Trending: Red Wings close out season with 4-3 overtime loss

DETROIT -- It was not the season the Red Wings envisioned when the 2017-18 campaign began back on October 5 with a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild in the first ever regular season game at Little Caesars Arena.

Detroit competed hard in almost every single game, but it came up short on far too many nights.
The Wings won only 10 of 37 one-goal games they played (10-14-13) and Saturday's 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Islanders sums up the Wings' major woe this season -- too many one-goal losses.
Captain Henrik Zetterberg, Justin Abdelkader (power play) and Dylan Larkin paced the Wings' offensive attack with a goal apiece.
Forwards Andrew Ladd, Anders Lee, John Tavares and defenseman Ryan Pulock were the goal scorers for the Islanders.
Tavares' tally was the game winner at 3:16 of overtime and it could be the last goal he ever scores in an Islanders uniform with unrestricted free agency looming for the superstar this summer.
With the loss, the Wings finished their first season at Little Caesars Arena with a home record of 16-16-9 and an overall record of 30-39-13, good for 73 points.
1. Justin Abdelkader: Abdelkader's goal at 11:58 of the second period on the power play was his 13th goal of the season and his 100th of his Red Wings career. Drafted in the second round, 42nd overall, in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, the former Michigan State Spartan has been a Wings' glue player - sticking and performing a wide variety of roles. From first-line to fourth-line duty to power-play time to killing penalties, Abdelkader can always be counted upon. In 619 career games, he has 100 goals, 130 assists and is minus-28 with 545 penalty minutes.
Quotable: "I think it was only fitting it went off my foot and not my stick but I didn't know if they were going to overturn that at first. I was glad they kept it a goal. Playing with (Zetterberg) and (Pavel Datsyuk) over the years, I know that when I'm in front of the net I got to be ready, whether it's off my stick - Pav would sometimes shoot it off my body on purpose, he wouldn't say he would, but he would sometimes. When you're playing with Z you got to be ready at all times. He sees the ice so well and always seems to make the right plays. So good play by him getting in there and I'm fortunate it went in." - Abdelkader
Quotable II: "I think that's probably his greatest strength, the ability to play in a lot of different situations. He can play in a shutdown role, he can be a complementary winger, a net-front presence. He brings physicality. He's got good skill. He can play power play, he can play penalty kill. I think he definitely has that type of versatility and that's important to have on a team." - Wings coach Jeff Blashill
2. Dylan Larkin: Just like last year, Larkin was a juggernaut the last 20 or so games this season. He led the Red Wings in points (16 goals, 47 assists, minus-9) becoming the fifth-youngest player ever to lead Detroit in scoring. With his goal on Saturday, Larkin extended his current point streak to six games, the longest by a Wings player this season, registering nine points (4-5-9) during his six-game scoring run. He finished this season with 13 points (7-6-13) in his final 10 games.
Quotable: "I guess it feels pretty good. I still want to be better. You look at tonight it's another one-goal game, another one-goal lead and we just came up short. I'd trade just as many points as it could take for us to be playing next week. There will be a little time here where you can reflect on the season and a little self-reflection and talk with management. I want to be a player where we're in one-goal games next year and I'm out there and we're holding onto that lead winning games and we're in the playoffs. So it does feel good but I still want more for myself and more for our club." - Larkin
Quotable II: "The two things I'm excited about with Dylan and why I think there's further growth is because he's got inner drive like the very best do. He'll get better at things. He'll get better at finding ways to become a better scorer. He'll get better at finding ways to become a better face-off guy. He'll become a better assist guy. Those things allow guys to become great." Blashill
3. Henrik Zetterberg: For the third consecutive season, Detroit's captain played in all 82 regular-season games. It's a remarkable feat considering he was coming off major back surgery in 2014. Zetterberg finished the year with 11 goals, 45 assists, 56 points and was plus-1. His ice time average of 19:31 per game was second to Larkin's 19:50 among Detroit's forward corps.
Quotable: "A little surprised. I thought last year I felt really good. That I played 82 this year, I'm happy about but I didn't practice since January. I have to be able to practice to be able to do something out there. Hopefully I can have a good summer and come back stronger. It's a tricky balance, I think. I wish I could practice every day and go out and fly around like some other guys do in here but I know that I can't do it. But you never know, have a good summer and I might be flying around." - Zetterberg
Quotable II: "He was sick of hearing from you guys that he couldn't play 82 games. He said I'm gonna show you and he did. Henrik hasn't practiced in probably three months. There was days where I wasn't sure if he was going to be able to play. He's as tough a person as you'll ever be around, like true toughness, being able to handle pain and endure that. Lots of days he's good, so I don't want to overdo it, but I think that that impressive thing isn't that he's played the games, but it's the level at which he's played. He's still lots of nights an elite two-way player. I think that's the more impressive thing but it just speaks to the level of player he is and the type of toughness that he has." - Blashill