Raymond’s heroics keep Red Wings alive in wild-card scramble for 1 more day

DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings were little more than a minute from being eliminated from contention for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the eighth straight season. No points would have meant no playoffs.

But forward Lucas Raymond tied the game with the goalie pulled with 1:17 remaining in regulation, and then he scored again at 4:35 of overtime to give the Red Wings a thrilling 5-4 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Monday.

The roars might have been the loudest the Red Wings have heard since they began playing at Little Caesars Arena in 2017-18.

“I kind of blacked out, to be honest,” Raymond said, laughing. “I scored an OT goal. Oh, my god. There was a lot of guys in there, and there were punches being thrown. But it was probably pretty loud, yeah.”

And so, now it comes down to this: the regular-season finale against the Canadiens at Bell Centre in Montreal on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN2, BSDET).

The Red Wings and Washington Capitals are tied for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference with 89 points, but the Capitals own the tiebreaker (31-27 in regulation wins). The Pittsburgh Penguins have 88 points and 32 regulation wins. The Philadelphia Flyers have 87 points and 30 regulation wins.

Washington and Philadelphia play each other Tuesday in the regular-season finale for each team. The Penguins play the New York Islanders on Wednesday in their regular-season finale.

Bottom line: Detroit needs a point, ideally two points, and some help.

“Going into the season, no one had us in the playoffs,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “Most [people] had us picked seventh in the [Atlantic Division]. If you would have told us, ‘You have one game, Game 82 on the road, to improve 11 points over your previous season, to have a chance to make the playoffs,’ every single one of us would have signed up for it. It’s here now.”

That’s true. Going into the season, no one picked the Red Wings to make the playoffs. They had 80 points last season, seventh in the division.

But then they signed forward Patrick Kane as an unrestricted free agent Nov. 28. He looked better than anyone expected after hip surgery.

Detroit went on a 16-4-2 run from Jan. 2-Feb. 27, building an eight-point cushion in the playoff race and raising expectations.

After the Red Wings lost seven straight games in regulation from Feb. 29-March 14, they suddenly found themselves out of the playoff picture. They’ve been in a tight, multi-team competition ever since, sometimes above the cut line, sometimes below it, depending on the day.

They’ve kept fighting.

At Pittsburgh on Thursday, they were down 1-0 and 2-1 in the first period; 3-2 and 4-2 in the second; and 5-3 in the third. But Raymond completed a hat trick to tie it, and they ended up with a point in a 6-5 overtime loss.

At the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, they took a penalty late in regulation with the game tied 4-4, knowing if they didn’t get a point they’d be eliminated. They killed the penalty, and they got two points when captain Dylan Larkin scored in OT to give them a 5-4 win.

Against the Canadiens on Monday, they were down 2-0 in the first period and 4-1 in the second. They were down 4-2 entering the third. But they got their 12th third-period comeback win of the season, second in the NHL behind the New York Rangers (14).

“I give the guys a ton of credit to hang in there and then to find a way,” Lalonde said. “We’ve done it all year.”

This experience is massive for a player like Raymond, the No. 4 pick of the 2020 NHL Draft. The 22-year-old has set an NHL career high with 31 goals, including seven in his past seven games.

“That’s why we need to get in these moments,” Lalonde said. “There’s huge growth in it. He’s been impressive to watch in my two years here, and he’s starting to shine in these really critical moments. Obviously, a really good sign for him, but a good sign for us.”

Making the playoffs would be an even better opportunity for growth.

“It’s been a lot of emotions up and down, but it’s been fun,” Raymond said. “I think all of us have enjoyed it. I think we’ve stuck with it and been able to pull through with some really big points here down the stretch. I think if you look at our locker room, we’ve got so many competitive guys who enjoy these types of games.

“So, obviously would have liked it to be a little more steady. But it is what it is, and we’ll take it from there. I think yet again it shows a lot about our team the way we’re able to come back in these games and come through in the end.”