RECAP: Red Wings ‘hung in there, battled’ to rally past Islanders, 2-1

DETROIT -- Pavel Datsyuk was at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night to lead the ceremonial puck drop after the Detroit Red Wings played a special tribute video for the retired forward, who was inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame earlier this month.

Then the Red Wings gave Datsyuk and the 19,013 fans in attendance even more to cheer about afterwards, wrapping up the festive night with an uplifting, come-from-behind 2-1 win over the New York Islanders.

“I think we played a really good game tonight,” said Lucas Raymond, who scored the game-winning goal with 52 seconds remaining. “It’s easy to let that frustration creep in when the pucks aren’t going in and you feel like you’re creating a lot. I think that was huge for us, and obviously Al [Lyon] keeping them out of the net was big for us as well. Nice win, for sure.”

Goalie Alex Lyon made 22 saves for Detroit (8-9-2; 18 points), which earned its first third-period comeback win of the season. Goaltender Ilya Sorokin ended up with 29 saves for New York (7-8-5; 19 points).

“I thought we played really hard tonight,” Lyon said. “Kind of laid it on the line, so just obviously satisfied. But the work doesn’t stop, so we got to keep going.”

Simon Holmstrom got his stick on a shot from the point by Scott Mayfield, tipping it past Lyon to give the Islanders an early 1-0 lead at 5:51 of the first period.

“The bench got a little quiet after that first goal against,” Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde said. “It wasn’t awful. But even as coaches, I think we tried to create some energy, a little extra cheerleading after that. But from that point on I thought our guys hung in there, battled.”

Entering the game with the NHL’s third-ranked power play, Detroit failed to convert on two in the second period and three through 40 minutes. The score remained 1-0 in favor of New York into the second intermission, but the Red Wings had a 22-15 shot advantage.

Detroit finally broke through at 15:14 of the third period when Jonatan Berggren finished a feed from J.T. Compher on a 2-on-1 rush to tie it 1-1. It was Berggren’s third goal of the season.

“Just his entire game, it’s really fun to see,” Raymond said about Berggren. “I think everyone knows what he can do with the puck. He showed it today. Huge goal for us.”

Then showing off his clutch gene minutes later, Raymond took a pass in the slot from captain Dylan Larkin, who managed to get the puck to him from out of the corner, and fired it past Sorokon to bring the crowd back on their feet. Simon Edvinsson picked up the secondary assist.

Raymond, who has a team-high 18 points (three goals, 15 assists) in 19 games this season, said the Red Wings’ forecheck led to his goal.

“I think that was the theme for us tonight,” Raymond said. “Larks and Motter [Tyler Motte] just getting in there, and Larks getting the puck to me. It was an unbelievable play, just kind of popped out to me. I felt pretty alone there, so nice to see it go in."

NEXT UP: The Red Wings will be back in action on Saturday night, hosting the Boston Bruins at Little Caesars Arena.

POSTGAME QUOTES

Lalonde on what Thursday’s win means for his club

“You can make the narrative any way you want. We’re a point out of a playoff spot and have points in two straight [games]. Obviously it doesn’t feel good off a road trip like that. And the way the road trip played out, could have easily had five points out of that road trip but we get three. There’s no doubt you feel a little sorry for yourself and there’s noise around it. But we had a really good practice yesterday, and some of the things we emphasized – puck track, improved D-zone – I thought translated. Again, I thought we got what we deserved tonight.”

Lalonde on Detroit's game plan coming into the night

“I thought we were good throughout. Play that one back, gave up one goal against. Got an important penalty kill. A night in which our power play didn’t pick us up...I give the guys a ton of credit.”

Lalonde on Berggren’s goal

“We needed one. Tough teams get offense on us, especially when the goalie looks like he’s zoned in, which he was tonight. I thought in that second period, when we had the puck a lot of the period, I thought we did it a lot more to get around him and make it harder on him, but I thought we hung in there.”

Lyon on Datsyuk

“When you see a legend like that, you have appreciation for what they’ve done and ultimately how much work they’ve put in to get to that point. It’s cool to see, for sure.”