Red Wings cannot avoid elimination despite going 3-0 in week 29

Welcome to my 29th, and final, weekly regular season recap of the Detroit Red Wings. This season came to an end for Detroit but not for lack of hard work.

The Red Wings played three games this week, going 3-0. They defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 in overtime, the Montreal Canadiens 5-4 in overtime, and Montreal again, 5-4 in overtime, in the final game of the season.

Positives

The Red Wings found themselves in a situation where they needed every point this week and everyone, especially Lucas Raymond, did what they needed to do.

This was a different version of the Red Wings who threw everything at the opposing goaltender, knowing they needed to score as many goals as possible. The team fought until the very end and, although they came up short, should be proud of what they accomplished this season.

Detroit found its offense this week, scoring 15 goals in three games. The offense came from throughout the lineup and it was nice to see offense created from hard work and dedication.

Two of the 15 goals scored this week came on the power play as the man advantage went 2-for-4. Detroit was patient with the puck and waited to find the open man instead of throwing the puck blindly at the net. It was a good showing this week by the offense.

The main offensive contributor this week was forward David Perron, who produced two goals and three assists for five points.

He played a big part in the team's success this week, scoring a big goal with three seconds left in the last game against Montreal to send the game eventually to the shootout.

Perron is a veteran who has played well since joining Detroit and his experience played a huge role this week as he showed why he belongs on this team. He was vital to the forward group.

Negatives

The Red Wings continued to give up the first goal of the game this week. This has happened several times throughout the season and could be one of the reasons they missed out on the playoffs.

Getting off to a strong start and scoring the first goal was troublesome for Detroit, who had to play from behind from the puck drop a lot this season.

While they went 3-0 this week, they played from behind each game. Credit to them for coming back and ranking at the top of the league for comeback wins but this cannot continue to happen next season.

The injuries to forward Michael Rasmussen and goaltender Ville Husso cost the Red Wings down the stretch.

Rasmussen and his play were not talked about much but he made his presence felt when he was in the lineup and was a guy who could turn the game around in an instant.

Goaltender Alex Lyon played a massive amount of games while James Reimer struggled to find his game. Husso being out tested the two goalies who normally are not tested.

It remains to be seen if Husso will be back in Detroit next season. The Red Wings need to find a goaltending duo capable of playing a solid 82 games one way or another.

Defenseman Simon Edvinsson has played well since his recall from the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League.

However, Detroit needs to find a way to keep him on the roster, give him more minutes, and put him in a position to succeed.

While playing on the bottom pairing was good to get him acquainted with the NHL game, he will develop quicker if he is on the first or second pairing.

The Red Wings are hurting for solid defensemen past Moritz Seider so elevating Edvinsson will help the defense as a whole. He is the future on defense and it would be wasting his development by playing him in a situation where is he seeing minutes per game.

Weekly record: 3-0

Season record: 41-32-9, 91 points, 5th in the Atlantic Division