DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings have dry-erase boards in the dressing room, nestled between the showers and training room that show how they stack up.
Usually, their winged-wheel logo is at least near the top of the Western Conference standings.
Not anymore.
The Wings' recent surge -- earning a point in seven of its last eight games -- has pushed the perennial NHL powerhouse merely into an eighth-place tie after play Tuesday night.
It's early and no one thinks Detroit is a bad team.
But it's an open question whether the Red Wings will be able to earn home-ice advantage in the playoffs for an 18th straight year.
"We're going to have to fight just to make the playoffs and it's going to be a grind," said senior vice-president Jim Devellano, the first person owner Mike Ilitch hired when he bought the team in 1982.
"To get home-ice advantage would be a miracle."
The Wings have been a top-four seeded team the past 17 post-seasons, winning four Stanley Cups and finishing as the runner-up last season for the second time during its dominant stretch.
Devellano said just making it to the post-season will be a difficult task considering the team has lost key players, including Marian Hossa, who collected 71 points with the Wings last season.
Detroit is also now without forwards Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula because of injuries.
Red Wings GM Ken Holland disagreed, insisting the roster is still talented enough to win a ninth-straight Central Division title and 13th in 16 seasons.
"Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk are two of the best players in the world and they're in the prime of their careers," Holland said.
"Our top four defencemen rank among the best in the league and Chris Osgood has shown what he can do in goal.
"Who's going to run away with our division? Chicago? We got off to a bad start and the Blackhawks are only two points ahead of us, and there's still a lot of hockey left to play."
Captain Nicklas Lidstrom said the Red Wings (6-4-3) will be able to gauge how good they are tonight at home against the Western Conference-leading San Jose Sharks (10-4-1).
"No doubt, a top team like San Jose is a good measuring stick for us," Lidstrom said.
