Strong Game from Lucas Raymond not Enough in Red Wings' 6-5 OT Loss to Pittsburgh
Lucas Raymond scored a hat trick against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, leading the Red Wings to a 6-5 overtime loss to Pittsburgh. The overtime nature keeps his team in the playoff race, though it doesn't give them a controlling position.
Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports - Strong Game from Lucas Raymond not Enough in Red Wings' 6-5 OT Loss to PittsburghIn the biggest moments of the past month of the season, the Red Wings have always been able to turn to Lucas Raymond. He tried to will them forward in a loss to Arizona back when Dylan Larkin was injured; he scored two goals including the winner in a gut-check overtime comeback against Columbus. His latest feat: a hat trick in a must-win game against Pittsburgh.
In a playoff race coming down to the wire, Raymond paced Detroit (38-32-9 overall) in a desperate 6-5 overtime loss to Pittsburgh (37-30-12). While the overtime point keeps the Red Wings in striking distance of the Penguins, who now hold the last wild card spot, the hope of playoff hockey in Detroit isn't dead thanks to Raymond's performance. The Red Wings are within a point of the playoffs, tied with two other teams in the same position.
"I give Lucas Raymond a lot of credit, he showed some stones tonight to play the way he played in a game like that," Larkin said. "He was the best player on the ice with some world-class players. That's how you show up and play in a game like that, and for a young guy to do that is unbelievable."
The Red Wings couldn’t afford to lose this game outright, but they stumbled twice off the starting block. Just 2:40 into the game, Penguins forward Drew O’Connor banged home a loose puck off goaltender Alex Lyon’s chest to take the 1-0 lead. Later with five minutes left in the first period, they got beat in transition by a sneaky Rickard Rakell pass that met Kris Letang perfectly for the 2-1 tally.
Yet, each time they fell behind, Lucas Raymond picked up the pace. Reunited with Larkin and Alex DeBrincat on the first line, Raymond scored both equalizers to keep the Red Wings in pace. They came from power moves, crashing toward the net and finishing high percentage looks. They kept his team tied heading into the first intermission, surviving another period with playoff dreams in reach.
"I think (we) maybe allowed a little bit too much than we would've wanted to," Raymond said. "But we were able to stick with it and I think that shows a lot about or team, once again, and being able to battle back for a point."
Raymond’s play was central to the Red Wings' fight, but they continued to make mistakes. Midway through the second period, Sidney Crosby scored a textbook backdoor goal after beating David Perron up ice, taking a 3-2 lead and moving into 10th in the all-time scoring records. Especially through transition, the Penguins took advantage.
Raymond, too, was fallible. Despite his offensive brilliance, he played a part in Pittsburgh’s 4-2 goal when he tripped stepping on a stick and lost a battle for the puck against Reilly Smith near the Red Wings’ blue line. Raymond watched as Smith beat him toward the net and fed Bryan Rust for the goal.
Back-breaking mistakes continued to pile on. After Jeff Petry cut the lead down to a lone goal to end the second period, a shorthanded goal by the Penguins' Jeff Carter grew a 5-3 lead for hometown Pittsburgh. Detroit's playoff hopes were on life support, and they needed some magic in the final half of the third.
Enter Raymond to keep hope alive. Skating deep behind the net and winning a battle for the puck, Raymond fed Larkin a perfect pass in front that the captain redirected in to cut the deficit to one goal. With 7:04 left on the clock, Detroit had time to keep rallying. And less than two minutes later, Larkin repaid the favor by feeding Raymond for the game-tying goal.
While the hat trick goal draws a lot of attention, proper credit must also go to Raymond's assist, too. It came from the type of battle-winning that elite players thrive in, the type of compete that can will a team forward like Raymond tried to do.
"(He's) just winning more battles, more consistency in his game," Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. "You can see him getting to hard areas. Last year he would lose these battles; he would end up on the ice in a battle and he's defending. Now he's winning those type of battles. You can see the confidence."
Thanks to Raymond — his fingerprints on four of their five goals — the Red Wings made it to overtime to secure a crucial point. More so than just scoring, Raymond's growth also includes the big game ability he has fostered this season. Lalonde spoke of Crosby's own talent after the game, observing that "these next echelon-type superstars, there's a drive about them." While results in the overtime loss might not have gone Detroit's way, Raymond's performance shows that same ability is innate to him, too.
Such timing is easy to understand — "It's these type of games that you play for," as Raymond put it. But conjuring up such a strong performance is no easy feat. Thanks to Raymond's ability, Detroit still has a lot left to play for even if Erik Karlsson's OT winner put the Penguins on top.
"It hurts, but one thing our group has done is we've picked ourselves up and we've come out and kept fighting," Larkin said. "It's an emotional rollercoaster this time of year in the position we're in. To build yourself up again after the Washington game and come out and play like that tonight says a lot about our group and it just hurts that we only got one point."
Thursday's effort wasn't the win Detroit needed, but it wasn't the loss it had to avoid, either. It didn't make up ground in the playoff race, but it survives for its next three games. Making the playoffs will depend on Washington and Pittsburgh losing some of their next three games — a hope that seems unlikely considering the Penguins' current 10-game point streak. The path to the playoffs isn't completely blocked.
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