In the end, the end came in typical fashion. The Detroit Red Wings didn’t play badly in their 1-0 loss to the Washington Capitals on Thursday, a result that officially eliminated them from the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second straight season. But they just couldn’t score, a familiar malady that afflicted this team all season long.

“I think I’ve said this before, too – we had enough chances to win the game,” captain Henrik Zetterberg explained to Mlive.com. “But we can’t score.”

Zetterberg and defenseman Niklas Kronwall were the only current Wings who were alive the last time the club missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons in 1981-82 and 1982-83.

Analyzing why this team so often came up short, the numbers don’t lie.

The Wings are the close but no cigar team of the NHL, dropping 23 one-goal games, second only to the 24 one-goal setbacks suffered by the Ottawa Senators. They are 0-3 when shutout, 0-15-3 when scoring one goal and 4-11-3 when tallying twice. That adds up to 4-29-6 and 14 of a possible 78 points in those games. Thursday’s loss to the Capitals was a microcosm of the Red Wings’ season.

“It’s been like this too many times - we haven’t been able to score when we’ve had pretty good efforts,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “We obviously had a pretty good effort. I don’t think we gave much up. I thought both teams were fairly good defensively. I don’t feel there was tons of chances both ways, but we’ve got to find a way to score.”

Asked to assess what needs to change to bring the Wings back to respectability, Zetterberg pulled no punches.

“A lot of things I think,” Zetterberg said. “We all know we are in a transition here with some younger players coming in. All the teams go through it eventually. It’s hard to go after or trade or sign a really good player nowadays. You have to get them through your own system.

“So we’ve got to get lucky in the draft. We have a lot of picks (an NHL-high 11 in the 2018 entry draft). And then we’ve just got to try to keep the traditions that are high here. Keep working hard, do the right things and eventually it will turn around.”

Green Surgery
Sooner or later, Wings defenseman Mike Green was going to require surgery on the herniated disc in his neck. Sooner won. The Wings opted to shut down Green for the season on Thursday and arrange for the surgery to be done.

“It’s no surprise for us in here,” Zetterberg said. “I’ve seen what he has battled through all year. Eventually it just came to a point where enough is enough.

“He’s going to take care of that, have a good rehab and be back playing next year.”

Where is to be determined. Green will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end. “I know there was some wondering why Green wasn’t traded (at the deadline),” Blashill said. “Well, this was why, because teams knew that if again, if he took the wrong hit, he might be out.”

Eventually, the Wings will recall a defenseman to fill Green’s spot on the roster. “There’s been discussion, yes,” Blashill said. “I anticipate it.”

It appears that will happen later rather than sooner. Detroit’s Grand Rapids AHL affiliate is in a battle for a playoff spot and with three key games this weekend, the Wings didn’t want to weaken the Griffins by depriving them of a top defender.

Sulak To GR
Red Wings prospect defenseman Libor Sulak has joined the Griffins after playing in the Finnish Elite League this season.

Sulak, 24, led all defensemen on the Lahti Pelicans with 9-23-32 totals in 42 games this season.

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