And so, now it comes down to this: the regular-season finale against the Canadiens at Bell Centre in Montreal on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN2, BSDET).

The Red Wings and Washington Capitals are tied for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference with 89 points, but the Capitals own the tiebreaker (31-27 in regulation wins). The Pittsburgh Penguins have 88 points and 32 regulation wins. The Philadelphia Flyers have 87 points and 30 regulation wins.

Washington and Philadelphia play each other Tuesday in the regular-season finale for each team. The Penguins play the New York Islanders on Wednesday in their regular-season finale.

Bottom line: Detroit needs a point, ideally two points, and some help.

“Going into the season, no one had us in the playoffs,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “Most [people] had us picked seventh in the [Atlantic Division]. If you would have told us, ‘You have one game, Game 82 on the road, to improve 11 points over your previous season, to have a chance to make the playoffs,’ every single one of us would have signed up for it. It’s here now.”

That’s true. Going into the season, no one picked the Red Wings to make the playoffs. They had 80 points last season, seventh in the division.

But then they signed forward Patrick Kane as an unrestricted free agent Nov. 28. He looked better than anyone expected after hip surgery.

Detroit went on a 16-4-2 run from Jan. 2-Feb. 27, building an eight-point cushion in the playoff race and raising expectations.

After the Red Wings lost seven straight games in regulation from Feb. 29-March 14, they suddenly found themselves out of the playoff picture. They’ve been in a tight, multi-team competition ever since, sometimes above the cut line, sometimes below it, depending on the day.

They’ve kept fighting.

At Pittsburgh on Thursday, they were down 1-0 and 2-1 in the first period; 3-2 and 4-2 in the second; and 5-3 in the third. But Raymond completed a hat trick to tie it, and they ended up with a point in a 6-5 overtime loss.

At the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, they took a penalty late in regulation with the game tied 4-4, knowing if they didn’t get a point they’d be eliminated. They killed the penalty, and they got two points when captain Dylan Larkin scored in OT to give them a 5-4 win.

Against the Canadiens on Monday, they were down 2-0 in the first period and 4-1 in the second. They were down 4-2 entering the third. But they got their 12th third-period comeback win of the season, second in the NHL behind the New York Rangers (14).

“I give the guys a ton of credit to hang in there and then to find a way,” Lalonde said. “We’ve done it all year.”

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Lalonde on Monday’s victory

“I can’t speak enough on the guys. I know this is the 13th game in which we were trailing in the third and we got two full points. Not took points, not lost in overtime. We actually won the game. We actually talked about it after the second (period), you have these little things throughout the year, when it happens, we’ll tap back into that.”

Lalonde on the Canadiens taking an early lead

“They scored on both of their chances in the second (period). Again, it’s frustrating. Not a great game, not a clean game. Credit to them, but we’re going to get out of that period two chances against and they both go in. Five chances over two periods, four go in. We just gave them too much easy offense around the scoring area. Not a lot, but just enough.”

Raymond on his game-winner

“Just saw Larks up ice, thought he was going for a breakaway first but he was probably pretty tired. Then just tried to jump up. I was pretty tired too and then just tried to get off a shot. Happy it went in.”

Raymond on being part of a postseason chase

“It’s been a lot of emotions up and down, but it’s been fun. I think all of us have enjoyed it. I think we’ve stuck with it and have been able to pull through with some really big points here down the stretch. I think if you look at our locker room, we have so many competitive guys who enjoy these types of games. Obviously would have liked it to be a little more steady, but it is what it is and we’ll take it from there. It shows a lot about our team, the way we’re able to come back in these games and come through in the end.”

Raymond on the crowd at Little Caesars Arena on Monday night

“This building has been amazing ever since I’ve been here. Tonight it helped us for sure, when you get momentum like that and the crowd feeds into it you get energy from that. Always feels really good whenever we’re able to give back to them. Just happy we were able to get a win for all the guys and girls here.”

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