Red Wings Postgame: Can Raymond Get on Another Roll?

A year ago, as the Detroit Red Wings were making their playoff push, it was Lucas Raymond who was driving the bus. Lately, though, he’s been more of a passenger.

Getting off the schneid in Sunday’s 3-0 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights, perhaps Raymond can once again ignite and become Detroit’s trigger man down the stretch drive of the NHL regular season.

Raymond’s 23rd goal of the season was the second goal in what was a huge victory for the Red Wings. Perhaps just as significantly, it was Raymond’s first goal since Feb. 22. He was ending a 10-game goalless drought.

There you go, Razor! pic.twitter.com/sOCfGgx0tp

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 16, 2025

Last season, Raymond netted 12 goals over the final 18 games of the campaign as the Wings came up just shy of earning a playoff berth. Perhaps Sunday’s marker will get him heading again in that direction.

“I sure hope so,” Detroit coach Todd McLellan said. “You could feel a sense of relief for Lucas after he scored. When players that score often go in a dry spell, there’s a lot of weight they put on their shoulders and they begin to focus on that instead of some other things that they need to be doing.

“And I’m not sure if Razor got to that point or not, but perhaps this will help him clear things up. I think when he’s skating he can shoot the puck and he’s a smart player.

“He’s gritty and all that type of stuff, but when he’s skating, he’s so much more effective. Maybe that goal will free him up a little bit more and we’ll get him back on a regular basis.”

Johansson A Dandy Dangler

Albert Johansson’s second goal of the season looked like a mix of Bobby Orr crossed with Paul Coffey. Moving in on Vegas goalie Ilya Samsonov, the Detroit defenseman got him to bite on a fake. Then he deked around the prone netminder, easily deposting the puck into the vacant cage.

Albert Jo-HANDS-son! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/xVkZaQDwim

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 16, 2025

“Not really that surprised, because we all know he can do it,” teammate Marco Kasper said. “He’s an awesome player.

“I mean that’s a great move, great goal and just overall a good play.”

Deja Vu For Red Wings Mrazek

It was deja vu al over again for goaltender Petr Mrazek. Making the third start of his second Red Wings tenure, Mrazek turned aside 17 shots for the shutout, improving to 2-1.

In his first stint with Detroit, Mrazek also launched with a 2-1 slate. In his third game, he shutout the Edmonton Oilers 5-0.

Then he lost his next seven decisions. But you probably don’t want to hear about that.

Ice Chips

The 17 shots were the second-lowest total allowed by the Red Wings to an opponent this season. On Jan. 10, they checked Chicago on 15 shots during a 5-3 victory. The Blackhawks goalie that night? Mrazek . . . Since Jan. 10, Kasper leads all NHL rookies with 11 goals . . . Raymond has 36 points in his last 33 games.