from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,

The Wings are, as their captain put it, "earning respect," as they have risen in the standings, edging within grasp of a playoff spot. The drive toward the wild-card range took a hit with Saturday's 4-2 loss to the Kraken in Seattle, but while that disappointed, there's a sense within the locker room that at least the Wings know they have a winning streak in them.

"We’re not going to win the last 20-25 games; we’re not going 25-0," Larkin said after the game at Climate Pledge Arena. "We’re going to lose, but we need to bounce back, and there’s no better opportunity than Washington, a team we’re trying to catch. We have that game marked."

The Capitals are among three teams sitting between the Wings and a pair of teams — the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins, tied at 63 points — occupying the two wild-card berths in the race for the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Wings (26-21-8) just spun together a five-game winning streak, and their coach blamed a lack of execution for not growing it to six.

"The way we won in those games, we had great compete, great special teams," Derek Lalonde said. "To me, the real challenge is, (Saturday] was an average game, an average performance. If we want to stay in this and keep pushing in this, you need a bounce-back game from this. You can’t let games pile up on you. So, great opportunity Tuesday in Washington."...

The Wings' haven't "had this luxury in a while," Lalonde said, referring to having more options than lineup spots. Lalonde isn't likely to change having Larkin and Bertuzzi on the top line together, as they have 18 points over the past six games, but the fourth line — Pius Suter, Filip Zadina and Oskar Sundqvist — also has stood out for its ability to generate scoring chances, which yielded a goal against the Kraken.

"That line has given us momentum," Lalonde said. "I think that’s why we’ve had some success, we’ve had all four lines going. That’s a perfect example — when you can just keep rolling over lines, keep everyone fresh. I mean, we’re down 1-0, and full confidence in putting that line out for the last shift of the period, and they scored. They’ve been a positive, for sure."

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