Red Wings Notebook: Raymond Scoring Touch in Sniper Mode

When the puck wasn’t going in the net for Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond, there was no gnashing of teeth or squeezing the stick. He was exuding confidence that his time was coming.

It’s now arrived. It was Raymond netting the overtime winner on a Detroit power play in overtime as the Red Wings were edging the Calgary Flames 2-1 on Wednesday.

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“Obviously it’s always fun to score, right?” Raymond was asking rhetorically. “Everyone wants to score. I’m no different. But at the same time it’s just about doing the right things and good things happen. And I think that’s kind of my mentality.

“Goals go up and down, whatever. But I think if you stick to doing the right things and playing your game the right way, I think, yeah, good things happen.”

The Swede has now scored in four straight games. He’s also counted goals in five of Detroit’s last seven games.

“I felt like it was a matter of time because of the caliber of player, how he’s elevated his game into last year and even this year,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “So, yeah, good sign and not surprised.”

Unusual Infractions Lead To Power Play Goals

Both Calgary’s tying goal and Detroit’s OT winner were the result of power-play tallies following the assessment of infractions from uncommon calls.

Connor Vary’s goal was following a faceoff violation penalty to Detroit captain Dylan Larkin. He was sentenced for gloving the puck in the faceoff circle.

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“You can’t glove it at all in the faceoff (circle),” Lalonds said. “And I didn’t get a look at it, but I’m guessing he swatted it back.”

Raymond’s winning tally came after the Flames were called for too many men on the ice, a rarely-enforced violation in OT.

“That was an egregious change,” Lalonde said. “They don’t usually call that, even though it’s the first thing they come and mention every time to the bench. So, good on the linesmen.”

Old Teammate Punishes Red Wings Chiarot

For the second succcessive home game, one of the game officials was a junior teammate of Red Wings defenseman Ben Chiarot. Wednesday, it was Carter Sandlak. He was Chiarot’s teammate with the OHL’s Guelph Storm in 2009-10.

Old times didn’t curry Chiarot any favors, though. It was Sandlak who was calling a second-period penalty on Chiarot when he was tripping Calgary center Zary.

Last Saturday, Justin Kea, a Chiarot teammate with the 2010-11 Saginaw Spirit, was one of the referees.