Lucas Raymond on an emotional win over the Bruins, the formula for success with Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Larkin, joining PP1, and his OT winner on Long Island

After Monday's practice, Lucas Raymond, Daniel Sprong, and Alex DeBrincat—seated at their stalls in the Red Wings dressing room—peel off the clear tape from their socks and shins pads, ball it up, and fire shots at the miniature trash cans stationed beside each of their lockers.

Raymond and Sprong sit a few stalls apart on one side of the locker room, and DeBrincat is positioned perpendicular to them.  In several minutes of shooting, nobody makes a basket, but each shooter is outraged over and over by what he perceives as the premature snatching of an attempt surely bound to find its mark—"That was in," "it was four feet short," "it was going in."

Good feelings permeate the Detroit locker room, and you don't need to search far or wide to understand why: The Red Wings handed the Boston Bruins their first regulation loss two nights prior, improving their own mark to 7-4-1 in a fiery, come-from-behind victory. 

It was a feisty and physical game that seemed to turn on a late first period scrum involving Detroit's top defense pair—Moritz Seider and Jake Walman—and the Bruins' most important attacker—David Pastrnak.

Lucas Raymond was at the center of the action all night.  

He scored a vital power play goal in the first period to keep the Red Wings afloat after falling into an unfortunate 0-2 hole before the game was ten minutes old.  He assisted on Dylan Larkin's third-period equalizer, playing his captain into the offensive zone where Larkin would score the first of three Detroit goals in 5:15 of action to propel the Red Wings to victory.  He threw two hits, he forced turnovers, and he put the Bruins under duress with his skating and forechecking.

"I feel like every game, especially some of the games, is usually pretty physical," Raymond tells The Hockey News, standing before his stall Monday, the tape basketball over for the afternoon. "And I think those are fun games. It brings a lot of intensity and emotions through the game, and it's fun for the fans as well. So very happy with Saturday night the way we finished off that game."

Raymond describes the win as "huge" for his team in restoring confidence after Detroit followed up its hot start with a recent run of four losses in five games.

"I think we started the season really good if you look at the first six, seven games, and then we kinda lost our way a bit for a couple games with some exceptions—the Islanders game where I think we played good—so it was good to bounce back with Saturday," he explains.

Raymond has spent the entirety of the season on the Red Wings' top line—alongside Alex DeBrincat and Larkin.  The trio has served as a spark plug for Detroit's attack.  Larkin leads the team in points at 17, DeBrincat is second with 14, and Raymond is fourth with 10.

"We wanna play with pace, and I think all three of us is pretty good [sic] at finding open ice and then finding each other at that open ice, which I think is a huge part," explains Raymond, of the line's ability to take advantage of the full width of the rink while continuing to pose a vertical threat to opposing defenses.  "At the same time, you don't want to be looking for the wide ice all the time. You want to get to that middle and attack that slot."

When asked about his own and his line's impact, he deflects credit to his teammates, saying "I think all of us are contributing in different ways.  For the offensive guys, it's just about not losing the other parts as well—playing hard, skating."

Raymond's goal Saturday came from the man advantage.  It was his first night playing on the top power play unit of the season, and his point total would be even higher had he begun the year in that role.  

Nonetheless, Raymond wasted no time making an impact with the first unit, scoring his first power play goal of the season on the second power play he took with the Red Wings' top gunners.

Playing on his strong side, Raymond received a cross-ice pass from David Perron, dusted off the puck, and beat Linus Ullmark with a clean wrister.  As a right shot on the right side of the ice, Raymond didn't have a one-time option, and it didn't matter.

"I've played it for a lot of time and a lot of games and feel comfortable on that side," he says, before explaining that the key to success on his strong side is "just being fast with the puck."  

"We have a lot of options coming down, and I feel like a lot of power plays around the league, it's a lot of off-side shooters," he continues.  "It's just about being prepped, setting up different chances, taking the shots that we get and just trying to be efficient."

"Coming down" is a key phrase in understanding Raymond's impact to that unit.  Before his promotion, Shayne Gostisbehere played in that spot on the right flank of the Red Wings' top unit.  Though Gostisbehere is a defenseman and Raymond a forward, Raymond seems to play that role slightly deeper than Gostisbehere, allowing him to work downhill and take an attacking threat straight at the penalty kill.

Two games prior on Long Island, Raymond netted the overtime winner on a glorious give-and-go passing exchange with J.T. Compher to beat the New York Islanders for Detroit's first ever win at UBS Arena.

"It's a balance," Raymond says of playing for possession and pushing for quality chances in the NHL's three-on-three regular season overtime format.  "You don't want to be throwing away the puck for nothing; you want to create chances and take shots that are high percentage to go in.  But at the same time, you don't want to lose the attacking mindset."

Whatever that balance is, it's one Raymond has struck to perfection 12 games into the 2023-24 season, and he'll look to keep his strong form going tonight in Manhattan, when his Red Wings take on the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Also from THN Detroit

Injury Update: Fabbri In, Fischer Probable, Larkin in Doubt for Red Wings-Rangers

From The Silky Mitten State: The Confusion of Shane Pinto's Suspension

Brady Cleveland & the Wisconsin Badgers Making B1G Early Statement

From the Archive: Conn Smythe Accuses Detroit of "Kitty-Bar-the-Door Hockey"

Red Wings 5, Bruins 4: "It's Definitely Nice to Give the Bruins a Loss"

From Amsterdam to Montreal to the NHL: On Daniel Sprong's Long Journey Home

From the Archive: Yzerman Arrives in Detroit