Detroit Red Wings
Raymond's Poise Powers Red Wings to 5-4 OT Comeback Win, Keeps Playoff Hopes Alive
21-year-old Lucas Raymond's star turn continues as his level head and decisive finishing keeps Detroit afloat in the wild card race
© Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports - Raymond's Poise Powers Red Wings to 5-4 OT Comeback Win, Keeps Playoff Hopes AliveDetroit—A bit past 9:30 local time, Lucas Raymond brought about the loudest eruption in the not so lengthy or decorated history of Little Caesars Arena—scoring the equalizer in a game his Red Wings had to have with the clock showing just 1:17 to play in regulation. Within 15 minutes, he'd brought forth an even louder noise, scoring again, this time the overtime winner. Detroit's path still to the postseason remains dependent on results beyond its own, but thanks to its 21-year-old star (ascending at a rate that suggests the prefix 'super-' might soon need to be attached to it) and tonight's 5-4 OT victory over Montreal, the Red Wings will enter the 82nd and final game of their season with their playoff dreams alive.
Considering the euphoria he'd just provided the 19, 515 fans in attendance, Raymond himself appeared almost sedate in the aftermath of his heroics. "It's been a lot of emotions up and down," he said, though you couldn't see it anywhere in his stoic visage, nor hear it in his matter-of-fact tone. "But it's been fun. I think all of us have enjoyed it."
What did Raymond see on the game-winning, season-prolonging goal? "Just saw Larks up ice. Thought he was going for a breakaway at first. He was probably pretty tired. Then just tried to jump up. I was pretty tired too, and just tried to get off a shot. Happy it went in," he said, understated again.
Was it the loudest he'd heard Little Caesars Arena? "I kind of blacked out to be honest. There's a lot of guys in there, and there was punches being thrown, but it was probably pretty loud, yeah," Raymond replied, this time at least cracking a smile.
In truth, for at least about 50 minutes, it had been an underwhelming effort from the Red Wings, doubly so considering the stakes the game carried for the home side but not the visiting Canadiens. In the build-up to the contest, Detroit discussed the importance of staying above Montreal, keeping the Canadiens out of the transition game on which they feast.
For most of Monday's game (perhaps even for all of it), the Red Wings allowed Montreal to generate a surplus of rush offense, and it allowed the Habs to build a 4-1 lead by the time Brendan Gallagher scored his second goal of the night with four minutes and 34 seconds to play in the second.
However, J.T. Compher ensured the game slipped no farther from Detroit's grasp by answering within 30 seconds to pull the score to 4-2, then Alex DeBrincat buried a one-time chance 10 minutes and 38 seconds into the third to set up a furious final push.
Derek Lalonde lifted Alex Lyon (who finished the night with 17 save on 21 shots, hardly his best effort of the season but good enough for all that mattered: two points) with the clock showing 2:20 to play in regulation.
The Red Wings immediately leveraged the man-power advantage into a net-front scramble but failed to bury the puck through that chaos. Then, Shayne Gostisbehere fired a one-timer that struck the post. Detroit was applying pressure, but some combination of fate, the hockey gods, and the Canadiens refused to allow an equalizer, until Raymond decided there must be one.
It wasn't a solo effort. In fact, it began with a spectacular leaping keep-in by Gostisbehere at the blue line, made even more impressive by his immediate transition into a pass to keep the puck alive for David Perron. Perron would eventually work the puck to Raymond along the goal line.
Raymond stepped up off the blue line then in toward Sam Montembeault in the Montreal crease. He fired and scored. LCA erupted, and the calmest man in Detroit—a 21-year-old Swede—allowed himself a moment to express his emotion, leaping for joy before his teammates mobbed him in the corner.
"That last shift in regulation when it felt like the puck might never go in for us, those guys stuck with it, and Ray's goal, the poise he had in that moment to take a few steps up with how hectic it was, what an unbelievable play to get us tied and get us to overtime," said Compher.
But, of course, the task still wasn't done. A point secured by forcing overtime spared the Red Wings from instant elimination, but a second was paramount to maintaining some measure of agency over their playoff fate.
Three-on-three overtime produced still more chaos. Detroit struck the post twice. Lane Hutson—making his NHL debut after a decorated two-year career at Boston University—had a chance to win it with a glorious look from the slot for the visitors. It was Raymond who led the rush up ice, carrying the rebound from Hutson's chance, before sending a pass up for Dylan Larkin, who gained the offensive zone then returned the puck across the slot for Raymond, where the superstar-in-the-making called game.
"It's obviously not ideal how I only used the four forwards [in overtime], and [assistant coach] Bob [Boughner] only used the two D in overtime, but it's that time of year," said Lalonde. "We had enough little rest in between where I was comfortable going back with Larks and Raymond, and thankfully we did."
"You want these important games for many reasons down the stretch, and a lot of it is for the growth of some of our youth," added Lalonde. "Man, I give [Raymond] a ton of credit...That's why we need to get into these moments. There's huge growth in it. It's just, he's been impressive to watch."
Again, the celebration forced emotion forth from Raymond, who dropped to a knee and made a windmill of his right arm to mark the occasion of his OT winner, but by the time came to discuss his heroics, that elation was invisible.
"Obviously would have liked it to be a little more steady, but it is what it is, and we'll take it from there," Raymond said of the comeback effort, unsentimental and matter-of-fact once more.
For all the emotion of the comeback victory, the two points Monday night assure no more than the same stakes tomorrow night: lose in regulation and the season ends, lose in overtime and you need a lot of help to make the playoffs, win in any fashion and you need a little.
"I don't think there's a challenge in the mindset, and we know what we need to do," said Compher. "All tonight did was give us the opportunity to finish the job tomorrow. We'll control what we can control, which is our game."
"I know they're excited, but I just said it's a business trip from this moment on," said Lalonde, echoing Compher's message. "I know the emotions are high. We didn't get the help we hoped for from around the league. We gotta channel it. We're gonna get on the plane the time we're supposed to, and you get your rehab, your rest. It wasn't a lot of rah rah. It was turn the page."
If Raymond's demeanor in the aftermath of the greatest triumph of his professional career is any indicator, it's an emotional recalibration the Red Wings are more than prepared for tomorrow night in Montreal.