The Red Wings didn’t just show up for the final game of the regular season.
They went into New Jersey and came out with a spirited victory, as Pius Suter scored his 15th goal at 10 minutes 33 seconds of the third period, sending the Wings to a 5-3 victory.
Suter’s shot barely crossed the line past Devils goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, video replay finally determined it was a legal goal, giving the Wings their fourth lead of the evening.
Tyler Bertuzzi added an empty-net goal, his 30th, with 10 seconds remaining.
BOX SCORE: Red Wings 5, Devils 3
Getting his first start of the season, goaltender Magnus Hellberg stopped 20 shots to earn the victory.
Joe Veleno scored 54 seconds into the third period, Veleno’s eighth goal, giving the Wings a 3-2 lead. But New Jersey’s Fabian Zetterlund tied it with his third goal, at 6:57.
Eleven Wings registered at least one point for the Wings in the victory.
The Wings finished the season at 32-40-10.
Hellberg, signed late in the season, got his first start of the season and looked comfortable, making several timely saves in the third period including a pair of good stops in the final minute after the Devils pulled Blackwood in favor of an extra skater.
Michael Rasmussen and Moritz Seider added Wings goals.
Dawson Mercer and Nolan Foote had Devils goals.
There was plenty of talk this week about the importance of these final games for the Wings, particularly with so much uncertainty surrounding some of the Wings’ roster.
“You don’t know how many years you have in this league, how many chances you get to play games,” forward Sam Gagner said. “That’s the way you have to look at it. You have to be excited about every chance you get to play in this league.”
Coach Jeff Blashill stressed the unique opportunity of playing in the NHL, and not taking it for granted.
“I’ve talked with our group about this lots and we have a leadership that have talked amongst them,” Blashill said after Thursday’s practice. “Every game in the NHL is special and every game matters. That’s why they celebrate so extensively when you get to 1,000 games as a player, because it doesn’t get achieved much.
“Nobody knows what tomorrow brings — we’ve all seen that over the course of the last three years. Tomorrow can look really different from one day to the next. We’ve had to go through a pandemic, with a season shut down, so I don’t think you ever take a day for granted in life and I certainly don’t think you take an NHL game for granted.
“It’s important to go out and play great hockey. Sometimes you play great hockey, and you don’t pick up the points you want but ultimately, every NHL game is something you should treasure.”
Now, the attention will be focused on Blashill’s future, who Friday completed his seventh season with the Wings. Blashill has a record of 204-261-72.
The Wings missed the playoffs for a sixth consecutive season under Blashill. After a good first half, which sparked hopes of an unexpected playoff berth, the Wings slumped badly over the final two months of the season, finishing far from the playoffs.
General manager Steve Yzerman is expected to meet with Blashill soon, to discuss Blashill’s future with the team.
When discussing the season Thursday, Blashill felt there were several factors that contributed to the late-season downfall.
“Our schedule the second half was tough for sure, strength of schedule probably played into some of that,” Blashill said. “I do think the mental affect of being in it (the playoff race) for a long time and having hope, probably the most hope we’ve had certainly the last couple of years of being a playoff team, our guys really believed we could be one, and when that became clear we weren’t, it took the life out of us a little bit.
“We didn’t play with the same extraordinary passion we played with at the beginning of the season, and for us to be good right now where we’re at, until some of those young guys continue to develop and we add some players, we have to play with that real extraordinary passion and extraordinary commitment and we lost that for a stretch.
“Again, some of that is the human element of realizing you’re out of it, so when we don’t play like that, we’re not a good enough team. When we play like that, we’re a good team.”
ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @tkulfan