00:00Good morning, 97.1.
00:04Get to something from Heather's weekend at 7.35.
00:09I think we've all been there.
00:11But is this fair or foul?
00:13That's at 7.35.
00:14We'll get back to Michigan, Michigan State.
00:16Revisit the collision course one step closer, both into the Sweet 16.
00:20We have to check in on Cinderella.
00:21There is no pulse.
00:23And maybe, just maybe, this is the year for the Big Ten.
00:26Again, because we have six teams in the Sweet 16, including a couple that favorites to advance and a couple
00:32more in toss-up matchups.
00:35Before we do any of that stuff, Wings are out of the playoffs as you wake up today.
00:40Islanders have played one more game.
00:42Yeah, Islanders win yesterday, puts them in the final spot.
00:45They've played one more game.
00:46One point ahead.
00:48And for a while, the Wings were in, but it's because the Wings had played more games than other teams.
00:53Correct.
00:55I love what I saw on Thursday against Montreal.
00:58I thought they matched the physicality.
00:59It was a tight, close, competitive game.
01:02And they found a way to bury their chances and win.
01:05Saturday night?
01:06Sounds like the atmosphere was similar.
01:08Game was close.
01:09It was competitive.
01:11The difference is, their goalie stood on his head and our goalie didn't.
01:14But I think if they play the way they did against Montreal and Boston, they should beat Ottawa.
01:18If they play that way, they should get in.
01:20Do I have confidence in the consistency of this hockey team at the end of the year?
01:24I don't.
01:27I'm in the prove it stage as a Red Wing fan.
01:30I understand that.
01:33And, I mean, the frustrating part is we're sitting on the edge of our seat waiting for Dylan Larkin.
01:43Yeah.
01:43Could be this week, right?
01:45Well, we'll at least get an update.
01:47And hopefully, you know, the skating around, hopefully everything is proceeding to where he will be back.
01:55The frustrating part is if you're, and I know Kopp is back, but if you're derailed because of an injury,
02:02and I think you brought this up last week, this team has been healthier than almost anyone else throughout the
02:10course of the NHL season.
02:11Yeah, they made a point of that on Saturday night.
02:14They did, you know, this big marquee ABC broadcast, and they said the Wings have the fewest man games missed
02:20of any team in hockey.
02:22So, for as much as you want to wallow and maybe feel bad about the injuries, they've been the most
02:28fortunate team in hockey.
02:30And even as the healthiest team in hockey, they've had a minus goal differential, right?
02:34Even with Larkin, they blew that Vegas game right before he got hurt, remember?
02:39So, yeah, they'll be better with Larkin.
02:41They'll have a better chance with Larkin.
02:43They still have more than a chance to get in, but it's where does the confidence come from?
02:48Now, Gibson has to stand on his head.
02:50He gave up a couple cheapies, and Swayman was going to give you nothing on Saturday night.
02:55And that was literally the difference in the hockey game.
02:57That, and I thought they made a good note in the first intermission, like the way the Wings are built
03:01right now, especially without Larkin, they have to score on the power play.
03:05And they did, but they have to keep, it's been cold really since the Olympic break.
03:12It has to heat up if they're going to make it.
03:16It's just, it's frustrating because they have been one of the healthier teams.
03:23And even with Dylan Larkin, like it was, hey, you're only, you're only a couple of points ahead of the
03:29cut line, but you're only a couple of points back of being one of the top three.
03:33There's still only two points out of being one of the top three.
03:35Well, welcome to life in the Eastern Conference.
03:37I mean, it's, it's been as congested and, and competitive as we've seen.
03:41I mean, John, it legitimately may take a hundred points to make the playoffs.
03:46If that's the case, I don't think the Wings can get there, but I don't know that the Islanders get
03:52there.
03:52I don't know that Boston gets there.
03:55Boston has a tough schedule.
03:57Just for context, a hundred points is what it took in 22.
04:01Capitals got in at a hundred points.
04:03It has happened.
04:04The damn shame of it is the bar was so much lower the last couple of years.
04:08Like there was a year where it was 91 and the Wings missed.
04:11Sure.
04:11It may be a hundred this year.
04:13And that's, that's where you start getting concerned is can this team get to 98, 99, a hundred points?
04:19Well, if they're going to, you can't let a point slip away like Saturday night.
04:23I mean, how you, when you have a third period lead, you're in a playoff chase.
04:27You have to get away with one point.
04:29It was reminiscent of the game I went to.
04:31The golden Knights came in some ways, except they actually got a point out of that one.
04:35I mean, but if you look at other teams too, things are weird things are happening.
04:39Yeah.
04:39The Islanders won last night,
04:40but Saturday night,
04:41I think they were leading in the second period and up losing seven to three.
04:45Yeah.
04:45Montreal.
04:45They scored four goals in the third.
04:47So, but just a zoomed out.
04:51You don't even have to be a hockey head or, you know,
04:54a super fan of the NHL to just take one quick look at the standings and go, huh?
04:58All the teams in the playoffs have a positive goal differential.
05:02Wings don't, you know, we've been bringing that up for a while.
05:06Like does that water end up finding its level?
05:09And that's the difference.
05:09They just aren't good enough.
05:10That and five on five scoring have remained true all season long.
05:14So, you know,
05:15the sooner the Larkin can get back,
05:17the better.
05:18Right.
05:19I thought they got chances on Swayman.
05:21Yeah.
05:22Beat Ottawa tonight.
05:23Not tonight.
05:24Tomorrow night.
05:26Math will be in your favor.
05:27You don't have to worry about everybody else.
05:29If you win hockey games.
05:30Yes.
05:31Take care of your own business.
05:32Yeah.
05:322, 4, 8, 5, 3, 9, 97, 97.
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