from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

"All of these guys never quit," said Larkin, whose leadership as captain was again impressive. "We had a very close-knit group this year. To have the last month, the last two weeks that we had, we just wouldn't go away. Comeback after comeback, just so much fun."

Tuesday's victory was the Wings' 14th third-period comeback victory of the season. It's a staggering number and spoke to the attitude and resiliency of the roster. The Wings' comeback ability was shocking in the final games.

David Perron's game-tying goal, with three seconds left Tuesday in regulation time, was a fitting example to of this Wings' roster that simply would not quit.

"For this team, the way that we battled, whether it was to come back in games or just find ourselves in this position was incredible," Kane said. "It was like nothing I've ever seen. There's no quit in this team. Really had a lot of fun playing with these guys and playing for the team here in general.

"It was a really fun year. It's very disappointing right now, but hopefully we can find some positives in the way we played towards the end of the year. The battle level" of this group was just so impressive."

There's no doubt Tuesday was a gut-wrenching punch. But you couldn't miss the undercurrent of optimism regarding the future given all the positives from this season: The growth of Raymond and Seider, the continued development of Michael Rasmussen and Joe Veleno, and the drive and example of a list of veterans that showed the way.

A continued theme after Tuesday's game was the closeness of the group. The unity was apparent as the season progressed and the success mounted.

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