If only once, the Detroit Red Wings have been here before.
With just one win in six games, and four left in the lockout-shortened 2013 season, the Red Wings trailed the Columbus Blue Jackets by three points, and their 21-year consecutive playoff appearance streak hung in the balance.
Legend has it that Henrik Zetterberg stood before the room, at one point, and delivered a passionate speech that included the words: "(It's) not going to happen on my watch."
The Red Wings went on to outscore the competition 15-3 over their final four games, nabbing all eight available points and earning their 22nd consecutive postseason berth with 56 points to Columbus' 55.
In those waning nights, it was the first time in 20 years that the odds weren't in the Red Wings' favor. Three seasons later, the captain, his team, and his timepiece are being tested again.
After Tuesday's 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, the Red Wings, though still in wild-card position, saw their postseason odds drop to 43 percent, as tabulated by Sports Club Stats.
They no longer have complete control of their fate, but they have 12 games left. So it's not quite time to set the nuclear option (though Anthony Mantha's arrival may be considered that) in motion. But if Tuesday's loss to the only team ostensibly capable of ending their historical run is any indication, the Red Wings might be plum out of resolve.
Everyone and their mother knew how important that game was; passionate speeches, strings of championship banners, or the reminder that a win would inch the franchise toward a quarter-century's worth of playoff appearances would have been superfluous. The pressure was there, and still, they were flat - as they've been all season.
Only six teams - four of which are locked into lottery seeding - have averaged less goals per outing than the Red Wings, who have possessed a negative goal differential for large portions of the season. Petr Mrazek, who stopped pucks at a Vezina-like rate for the first four months, owns a substandard .906 save percentage since Feb. 1. And Zetterberg, who delivered the perhaps record-prolonging speech, needs a goal next time out to avoid going a full month without scoring.
It will indeed be on Zetterberg's watch if the Red Wings fail to pick themselves up off the mat this week, and outperform the Flyers (or Pittsburgh Penguins) down the stretch. But despite his scoring woes, it won't be his failure. It won't be Pavel Datsyuk's or Jeff Blashill's, or Ken Holland's, either. And it certainly won't be due to the absence of Mike Babcock.
It's been a culmination of cosmic factors that have gone into one of the greatest franchises in history achieving one of the more remarkable streaks in sports. And when it comes to an end, whether it's this season, next, or decades down the line, it won't be any different.
Only the speeches, banners, and the weight of a quarter-century might have the adverse effect on a team that simply might not be good enough.
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