RECAP: Raymond's two-goal night leads Red Wings past Wild, 2-1

DETROIT -- When asked earlier this week about what he's seen from Lucas Raymond so far this season, Detroit Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde said he felt the 20-year-old forward was pressing too much, but emphasized Raymond would be rewarded offensively by playing the right way.

And Raymond did just that in the Red Wings' 2-1 win over the Minnesota Wild at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday night, recording his first multi-goal game of 2022-23 to help his club snap a two-game skid.
"My focus is playing the right way," Raymond said. "I know that good things will happen. I think we had a good game tonight, so we're going to build off that."
Raymond's first goal of the night at even strength tied the game, 1-1, late in the first period. He closed out the middle frame with the eventual game-winner on a power play, joining David Perron as the only Red Wings player to score twice in a contest this season. Ville Husso made 30 saves, preserving the win for Detroit (4-2-2; 10 points).
Givani Smith, who was recalled from the American Hockey League's Grand Rapids Griffins on Saturday morning, and Jordan Oesterle, who made his Red Wings season debut, combined for 23:22 of ice time against the Wild.
Matt Luff exited Saturday's game after getting hit in the face by a redirected shot in the third period and did not return.
"I'm really proud of the guys," Lalonde said. "There's wins, and then there's wins. This was just a quality win considering who we have out of the lineup and coming off two games in which we were on the bad end of some scores. To come out and play a complete game against a really good team, that's a playoff team, is probably our best win to date so far."
NEXT UP: Detroit will face the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Monday night.

SCORING SUMMARY

Minnesota 1, Detroit 0 (1:28, 1st period)
Kirill Kaprizov skated into Detroit's zone on a 2-on-1 and got one by Husso for his sixth goal of the season.
Detroit 1, Minnesota 1 (16:51, 1st period)
Dylan Larkin's pass went to Adam Erne in the right faceoff circle, who spun and skated to Minnesota's goal line. Erne then found Raymond in the slot, who fired the puck past Minnesota goalie Filip Gustavsson for his first goal of the season.

Detroit 2, Minnesota 1 (19:55, 2nd period)
After Dominik Kubalik received Larkin's cross-ice feed, his pass from the right faceoff circle got to Raymond at the weak side. Raymond then knocked the puck in for the pivotal power-play tally. With two assists on Saturday, Larkin boosted his career NHL point totals to 151-217--368, surpassing Marcel Dionne (139-227--366) for sole possession of 23rd on the franchise's all-time points leaderboard.

QUOTABLE

Larkin on how Saturday's win felt
"It feels better the way we played. We're shorthanded there with a couple guys out, but we grinded. Husso was good. Our D were good. Our PK in the second was gutsy. It was an emotional game. We brought the emotion and when we have that, we played really well."
Lalonde on Raymond's effort against the Wild
"He's a key guy for us. With his minutes and how he plays, we need quality play out of him. I'm more excited about his overall game tonight."
Lalonde on Detroit's overall game and mentality
"A quality job. We had the mentality of winning 2-1, 3-1, not winning 4-3. We got rewarded tonight."
Lalonde on Luff's upper-body injury
"He should be fine. He's got a lip the size of a watermelon right now, but I think he's fine."