Red Wings playoff streak ends at 25 seasons

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Detroit Red Wings' 25-season streak of qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs ended after a 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena on Tuesday.
The loss, combined with victories by the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs, eliminated Detroit from postseason contention for the first time since 1989-90.
"It's a great streak," Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said. "The guys who have been part of it should be proud of it. Unfortunately it's over. We've just got to move on and look to the future."

WATCH: All Red Wings vs. Hurricanes highlights
Boston defeated the Nashville Predators 4-1. Toronto defeated the Florida Panthers 3-2.
Detroit was playing its third game in three days; it won the prior two in overtime (3-2 against the Minnesota Wild on Sunday and 4-3 at Carolina on Monday).
"They're human. There's obviously going to be fatigue," said Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard, who made 28 saves. "When all's said and done, I've got to be better for the guys."

Cam Ward made 21 saves for the Hurricanes (34-27-14), who are four points behind Boston for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
The Hurricanes have a 12-game point streak (8-0-4), matching the Carolina record set in October 2005 (11-0-1).
The Hurricanes made it 1-0 on Lee Stempniak's 15th goal at 10:10 of the first period. Joakim Nordstrom's sixth goal of the season put Carolina up 2-0 at 15:12. Howard stopped Brett Pesce's shot from the point, but Nordstrom scored on the rebound in the slot.
Jordan Staal made it 3-0 at 13:36 of the second period. After getting the puck at the red line, he skated to the right circle for a wrist shot that fluttered under Howard's glove.
Detroit forward Tomas Nosek scored his first NHL goal, in his 11th game, at 13:33 of the third period to make it 3-1. He went to the net to follow Drew Miller's shot and tapped a rebound behind Ward.
Elias Lindholm made it 4-1 with a power-play goal at 17:22. Sebastian Aho's shot hit Nick Jensen, and Lindholm scored his 11th on the rebound.

Goal of the game

Derek Ryan left a drop pass for Stempniak at the top of the right circle, where he scored under Howard's blocker.
"Ryan and I were able to cross a little bit and I used the defenseman as a screen," Stempniak said. "It was nice to get it started."

Save of the game

Howard made a glove save on Victor Rask off a return pass on a give-and-go at 2:11 of the third period.
"You know it's coming," Howard said. "Most of these guys aren't very selfish. They're going to dish it back off to their teammates. I just pushed across hard and I was able to get a glove on it."

Highlight of the game

Nosek scored by getting behind Ward to finish a long rebound off the end boards.

They said it

"We've all known we're in a tough spot here. Our focus is 100 percent on making sure that this is a one-time deal, not an eight-, nine-, 10-time deal. You do that by making sure you maintain the culture that has allowed that streak to continue for a long time: work ethic, attention to detail, selflessness, competitiveness. We have to make sure that's there every single night. You can't let it slip whatsoever. Once you let it slip, it's hard to get it back." -- Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill on the end of Detroit's 25-season playoff run

Need to know

Ryan has one assist in five straight games. ... Red Wings forward Ben Street played 10:01 and had an assist in his Detroit debut. … Red Wings forward Andreas Athanasiou, who scored Detroit's game-winning goal in overtime on Monday on the play that injured Carolina goalie Eddie Lack, was scratched with an upper-body injury. Lack (neck) also was scratched. He was at the arena after being released from the hospital Monday.

What's next

Red Wings: At the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-D, SUN, NHL.TV)
Hurricanes: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; FS-O, FS-CR, NHL.TV)