The tide appears to be turning in the Motor City, as the Detroit Red Wings have accomplished a feat not seen for the franchise since early 2015.
The Detroit Red Wings have officially entered the calendar year of 2026 and find themselves in a far more favorable situation than they've been in recent seasons.
As of Friday evening, the Red Wings lead the Atlantic Division as well as the Eastern Conference through 42 games played.
The last time the Red Wings led the Eastern Conference in points at this point in an NHL campaign took place nearly 11 full years ago, in February 2015 to be exact.
With a point tonight, the @DetroitRedWings are first in the Eastern Conference! 🐙
— NHL (@NHL) January 2, 2026
The last time the Red Wings were first in the Conference at this stage or later into a season was Feb. 7, 2015. 👀 pic.twitter.com/VpSiu5J0Qw
They also have their highest point total at this point in a campaign since 2014-15, which happens to be the second-to-last most recent season in which they played beyond the 82nd game of the regular season.
But that doesn't mean they can afford to take their eyes off the ball.
Head coach Todd McLellan, who has now been behind Detroit's bench for just over a calendar year, noted the overall tightness of the standings and how little margin for error there is.
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“That’s better than 31 or 41, but there’s no breathing room," he said following Detroit's 2-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Dec. 31. "Everyone just stays on your tail, and I don’t think that’s going to change. Inevitably, we’ll hopefully continue to climb and grow, but we’ll hit some bumps in the road that we’ll have to deal with.
"It’s just the way it happens in the League. Those will be a good test for us.”
Forward Mason Appleton, who is in his first season playing in Detroit after having previously spent the bulk of his career with the Jets, knows too well the importance of accumulating as many points in the standings as possible.
“The more (points) you can stack up this time of the year, it’s important because you never know what it’s going to come down to," he said. "You look, you can miss the playoffs by one, three, five points. It could’ve been that game in January or in March – you don’t know. So, every two points matter.”
The Red Wings enjoyed a nine-point lead from the cutoff point at the end of February 2024, only to struggle in March and eventually miss the playoffs on a tiebreaker.
It was a similar story last season, as the Red Wings were in a favorable position at the same time last season only to once again struggle in March before falling out of the race.
This time around, they hope it's different, and their play - especially in December - is renewing hope in Detroit that playoff hockey could once again be around the corner after a long wait.
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Category: General Sports
