Following the unbelievably wild, back and forth affair against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena, the Detroit Red Wings were in need of a few good bounces to go their way. Tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes, they got what they were looking for.
Captain Dylan Larkin capitalized on a Carolina defensive turnover to tie the score late in the 3rd period less than a minute after the visiting Hurricanes took a one goal lead, and it was rookie forward Lucas Raymond burying the game winning goal in overtime at the side of the net after a nifty feed from forward Tyler Bertuzzi.
Following the game, Raymond was visibly spent, but happy with the in.
“Yeah, a little tired now,” Raymond explained to Mickey Redmond and Chris Osgood afterwards while catching his breath. “It was a long last shift, but I think it’s huge to come back and win this game, it was a really tough game here at home. It was a great bounce back win.”
It was a golden opportunity for the Red Wings to earn the valuable second point in the standings when Carolina was penalized for too many men on the ice, and Raymond took the viewers through what he and his teammates were told by assistant coach Alex Tanguay prior to the winning tally.
“It’s to get moving and take the shots we’re given,” Raymond explained. “On a 4 on 3, you have a lot of ice to work on and a lot of shots to take, and it’s easy to pass up those opportunities and look for even better, so just have a shoot first mentality and get it to the net.”
Of course, after two straight setbacks, it felt good to finally get back into the win column with a crucial road trip coming up next on the schedule.
“It’s huge to bounce back from the last two games where we haven’t played how we want to,” Raymond said. “To bounce back against a tough opponent, it means a lot, especially going into a tough road trip. It’s huge.”
– – Quotes via Bally Sports Detroit Link – –
