Raymond has goal, 2 assists to help Red Wings top Jets for 4th straight win

WINNIPEG -- Lucas Raymond had a goal and two assists, and the Detroit Red Wings hung on to defeat the Winnipeg Jets 4-2 at Canada Life Centre on Saturday.

“It’s a big win for sure,” Raymond said. "I feel like we’ve played some really good hockey lately and we continued that tonight. Obviously, they’re a great team and they put us under pressure, but we kind of weathered that and got going.”

Dylan Larkin scored twice, and Moritz Seider had three assists for the Red Wings (17-18-4). Patrick Kane had two assists, and Alex Lyon made 21 saves.

"The belief system has grown,” said Detroit coach Todd McLellan, whose team is 4-1-0 since he replaced Derek Lalonde on Dec. 26. “It's got stronger over the last 10 days, which is essential. You can't play without that. Structurally we've adjusted a few things, but we can do all of that. Unless you have a receptive classroom and players that are willing to either change or learn, you have no chance. And give the players credit for, all of them, moving the train forward, if you will.”

Josh Morrissey and Nikolaj Ehlers scored for the Jets (27-12-2), who have lost three straight, including the first two of an eight-game homestand. Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves.

“There's never an easy two points in the NHL,” Morrissey said. “Every point's the same no matter who you're playing, of course. And for us, [the] focus is, 'OK, we've got one game in (the next) five days here.' It'll give us a chance to rest, recover and get some practice time and actually utilize this homestand. So we need to come out with a good start, a better start than we had tonight, and just continue to be who we are and who we've been through the first 40 games. When we do that, we're a really good hockey team.”

Larkin gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead on the power play at 6:25 of the first period, beating Hellebuyck with a high wrist shot from the right circle to the stick side.

Detroit outshot Winnipeg 17-7 in the period.

“We’re getting high shot volume,” Raymond said. “I think just realizing what that creates. Loose pucks off of shots and getting their [defensemen] and forwards to turn, I think that creates a lot, and being able to retrieve pucks and get it to the net.”

Raymond’s power-play goal made it 2-0 at 4:33 of the second period. His one-timer deflected in off the stick of Jets defenseman Neal Pionk.

“A couple unfortunate bounces [and we] hit a bunch of posts as a team,” Winnipeg forward Cole Perfetti said. “You beat the goalie but you can’t beat the post. The effort was there. Sometimes you’re not going to get those bounces.”

Morrissey cut it to 2-1 1:15 later with a point shot through traffic at 5:48.

Alex DeBrincat pushed the lead to 3-1 at 7:14 of the third period, finishing a give-and-go with Kane, but Ehlers made it 3-2 at 16:45 by tipping Pionk’s point shot.

Larkin scored into an empty net at 19:31 for the 4-2 final.

“We’ve got to keep it rolling,” Lyon said. “Whether we win or we lose we have to play the right way. Fortunately we got the win tonight.”

Detroit went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill against Winnipeg’s NHL-best power play (31.5 percent). The Red Wings are 10-for-13 (76.9 percent) on the kill in five games under McClellan; they were 64-for-93 (68.8 percent) in 34 games under Lalonde.

“Joining the group that's here, the focus went on penalty-killing,” McLellan said. “The power play was doing a pretty good job, there hasn't been many tweaks there, a few things we've talked about. But certainly the penalty kill has been a total rebound. … When you win the special teams battle in this league, you have a real good chance at success.”

Jets defenseman Colin Miller left the game late in the first period after getting hit with a puck. Arniel called it “pretty serious” and said the team should know more about his status Sunday.

NOTES: Larkin has seven points (four goals, three assists) in a five-game point streak. He’s had 18 point streaks of at least five games in his career, tying Ted Lindsay for 11th in Red Wings history. … Seider played his 285th consecutive game to begin his career, passing Nicklas Lidstrom (284 games from Oct. 3, 1991 to April 9, 1995) for the longest such run by a defenseman in franchise history. Seider holds the second-longest streak by any skater in Detroit history, trailing forward John Ogrodnick (345 games from Jan. 12, 1980 to Feb. 26, 1984). … Morrissey became the second defenseman in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history with 70 career goals. Dustin Byfuglien scored 122.