If you're a Detroit Red Wings fan, you've seen this movie before. And I'm sorry to tell you, but you're watching it again.

For the third consecutive season, the Red Wings are experiencing a late-season collapse that's turned playoff certainty into playoff desperation. They've gone from leading their division in December to clinging to a 1-point wild card cushion with just 15 games remaining.

And if they miss the postseason, it'll be 10 years since their last playoff appearance. Let that sink in. An Original Six franchise, one of the most storied organizations in hockey history, shut out of the playoffs for a full decade.

This isn't bad luck anymore. This isn't a rough stretch or a tough schedule or unfortunate injuries. This is a pattern, and patterns don't lie.

Three years ago, Detroit was rolling through February, sitting comfortably in a playoff spot. Then March happened, and they cratered. Missed the playoffs.

Two years ago? Same story. Great start, strong position at the holiday break, then a complete meltdown down the stretch. Missed the playoffs again.

Now here we are in Year Three of the same horror film, watching the same plot unfold, knowing exactly how it ends.

"We can't explain it," a Red Wings player said anonymously. "We work hard, we prepare the right way, but when it matters most, we just... don't get it done."

Let me tell you what the problem is - and this is coming from someone who's covered hockey for 20 years. Detroit doesn't have a closer. They don't have that guy who puts the team on his back when the pressure's highest and drags them across the finish line.

Every playoff team has that player. Colorado has Nathan MacKinnon. Edmonton has Connor McDavid. The list goes on. Detroit has a collection of good players, but nobody who can single-handedly will them to victory when it matters.

And that's not enough. Not in March, when every point feels like a playoff game. Not when you're fighting for your postseason life against teams who have those elite, difference-making superstars.