Three takeaways from Red Wings' 6-2 win over Sabres

The Detroit Red Wings' second preseason game was all about their first line.
In a 6-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres, the Red Wings found an offensive spark in the second period, when they scored four goals after 18 unsuccessful first period shots. The first line of Robby Fabbri, Pius Suter and Lucas Raymond was involved in each of them - a positive sign for a team that faces questions about depth with Jakub Vrana out for four months.
Much as preseason games should be taken with a grain of salt, this grain of salt is about as positive as it gets for the Red Wings.
"We scored quite a few goals," Suter said, "so that's always fun."
Here are three takeaways.

Lucas Raymond scores and assists in his debut

Jeff Blashill joked on Thursday morning that he told Raymond his wife would be watching the game - having previously said that to make the roster, Raymond would need to impress to such an extent that she would know he deserved a spot. (For the record, Blashill made clear his wife knows the sport well).
Whether or not he did that against the Sabres is at Blashill's discretion (or his wife's). But scoring a goal and assist in his first game with the Red Wings is a good start.
"He's great," Fabbri said. "For a guy like that to come in and be as confident as he is is important because that's when he's making those plays and that's when he's playing his game. And you can see that tonight. It makes our job a lot easier as well, when he's playing his game."

Raymond scored one through the five-hole after a Fabbri takeaway at 2:29 in the second period. Even if nothing else had happened for him, that would have been a positive start, but he played a solid game throughout, notching that goal, an assist and two shots in 15:56 of ice time. The assist came later on, after the Sabres pulled their goaltender. Raymond found Fabbri on a breakaway, who put it home to make the score, 5-2.
"He's got a really good two-way game," Blashill said. "So those types of players always are guys that are transferable, because they know how to create efficient offense. I thought he did that."

Pius Suter notches three assists

As far as the Red Wings' debuts on Thursday night, Suter was relatively under the radar coming into the game.
That will no longer be the case following Thursday's effort. Suter was involved in two second period Red Wings goals. The first came when Fabbri put home a rebound off his shot for Detroit's first goal of the night. The second, to make it 4-2, was created when Suter won an offensive zone faceoff to set up a Luke Witkowski wrist shot that found the back of the net.

"The game tonight, he's smart," Blashill said. "He's a playmaker. He's strong on his stick for a guy that's a little bit undersized. He can obviously play power play, play penalty kill, so he's got a lot of attributes. He's been impressive so far."
Though in just his second season in the NHL, the hype around Suter isn't quite at the level of Moritz Seider or Raymond. But he projects to be a top-six player for the Red Wings this year, and it was obvious why from early in the game. Centering a line with Raymond and Fabbri, Suter was at the center of several scoring chances early on, registering four shots along with a number of high-danger passes and takeaways in the first period.
Suter's line was active throughout, with play driven in large part by him. He finished plus-4, the third assist being the secondary one on Fabbri's empty-netter.
"It's definitely my goal to be out there in every situation," Suter said. "Of course it's a bit early right now still. It's the first game, or second game for us, so long way to go."

Robby Fabbri scores two points

It's telling that there are positive things to say about all three members of the Red Wings' first line on Thursday night, but Fabbri played just as impressive a game as his linemates, notching two goals and going plus-4 on the night.
The first point came on the first Detroit goal, with Fabbri scoring the opener off Suter's rebound. He added the second on an empty-netter late in the third period.
"It was good," Fabbri said in understated fashion. "It's been a while since I've been in a game."

Specifically, it's been since April 3, after which Fabbri missed the remainder of last season with an upper body injury. The rehab he's done over the summer, though, was evident on Thursday.
"The biggest thing I'd say with Fabbs is he has been outstanding from his compete level," Blashill said. "Absolutely outstanding. On day 1 of camp, he worked all summer long here, trained here all summer. I think he's got his body in the best spot it's probably been in since he's been a pro."
It's hard to read into too much in the preseason - line combinations being near the top of the list, as Raymond in particular could start the regular season in Grand Rapids. But it's hard not to come away with positive things to say about that group.
Though Raymond's spot on the line is liable to change, Blashill said he likes the combination of Fabbri and Suter.
"I think Suts is a guy who can make some plays," Blashill said. "Fabbs is a guy who can sore and we'll find somebody to play, who can play on that right side."