The Detroit Red Wings iced a different roster of players opposite the Buffalo Sabres as compared to the roster that played in Wednesday’s 4-3 shootout win against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Red Wings’ “B” team defeated the Sabres 6-2, in a game that was closer than the score indicated.
While Detroit surrendered the game’s first goal despite out-shooting the Sabres 18-9 in the 1st period (to Rasmus Asplund), they broke through early in the 2nd, with goals from Robby Fabbri, Lucas Raymond and Troy Stetcher (all scored within a 3:12 span), the Wings took a little nap and let the Sabres come back to within 3-2, and Luke Witkowski gave them breathing room just before the 3rd period, scoring the 4-2 marker;
And the 3rd period was something of a snoozer, with neither team’s special teams connecting, but Lucas Raymond found Robby Fabbri for an empty-net goal with 2:18 remaining (affording Pius Suter his 3rd assist of the night), and that was that…Though Jon Martin deked his way into a 6-2 goal before all was said and done.
It wasn’t as much of a blowout as it looked–the Sabres had a really good push in the 2nd and 3rd–but Detroit prevailed thanks to better scoring depth and fine goaltending between Nedeljkovic and Brattstrom.
The Wings got the only goal of the practice shootout as well, with Robby Fabbri scoring a gorgeous top-shelf marker.
In the “media folks” department, MLive’s Ansar Khan penned a recap…
Jakub Vrana’s injury created an opening on the line with Pius Suter and Robby Fabbri.
Lucas Raymond was the first to get a look in that spot on Thursday, and he didn’t look out of place, scoring in his first career preseason game and adding an assist as the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Buffalo Sabres 6-2 at Little Caesars Arena.
It was the first of several exhibition games for Raymond, the fourth overall pick in 2020, before the Red Wings decide whether he should start the season on the NHL roster or be sent to the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins for further development.
Veteran Bobby Ryan, who had a goal and an assist and scored the shootout winner in Chicago on Wednesday, is also competing for that spot while in camp on a tryout.
As did the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan…
With the news Thursday that Jakub Vrana will miss at least four months due to shoulder surgery, the Wings will need goal-scoring ability from someone. Raymond is beginning to show it could be from him.
In the second period, just 23 seconds after Robby Fabbri got the Wings on the scoreboard tying the game, Raymond gathered a loose puck near the dot, skated into the slot, and whistled a shot past Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
Raymond, who also had an assist on Fabbri’s empty net goal, talked after Thursday’s morning skate about how excited he was playing at Little Caesars Arena.
“It’ll be a lot of fun playing here,” said Raymond, Thursday morning. “It’s something I dreamt of since I was drafted. To finally be here, to be able to play (Thursday) will be an incredible feeling. Of course, there’s nerves the first game of the season, but just trying to treat it like every game and be calm. To be in this arena in a Red Wings jersey is really special.”
The Free Press’s Helene St. James offered the following points in a subscriber-only missive…
Savvy Suter: The power play has been one of the Wings’ worst areas the past couple seasons, but this year, new assistant coach Alex Tanguay has taken charge. The engagement level was noticeable: Though there was no conversion, Suter especially looked dangerous when he tried to stuff Filip Zadina’s rebound off a one-timer from Nick Leddy. Suter earned an assist in the second period when Fabbri turned Suter’s shot on net into a rebound goal. Suter earned a second assist when he won the draw that led to Luke Witkowski’s goal. Suter assisted again on Fabbri’s second goal, an empty-netter with 2:18 left in the third period.
Raymond watch: Jeff Blashill joked earlier this week that in order for Raymond to be on the opening roster, he has to play so well during exhibition that it’ll be obvious to Blashill’s wife. On Thursday morning, Blashill followed up, saying he told Raymond, “my wife will be watching.” Raymond started the game on a line with Suter. Raymond, “is a really smart player, good with the puck,” Blashill said. “He has to make sure he has the puck a lot — you work to get open or you work to get it, and then you play good defense to make sure you’re not defending all night.” Raymond scored to make it 2-1 in the second period.
Nedeljkovic debuts: New goalie Alex Nedeljkovic was acquired in an offseason trade with the Carolina Hurricanes in the hopes he could strengthen the Wings in net for years to come. He’d probably like to have back Rasmus Asplund’s goal, scored with 1:29 left in the first period. Asplund eluded a defender and fired a clean shot on net that hit Nedeljkovic and went into the net. Arttu Ruotsalainen made it 3-2 midway through the second period.
And DetroitRedWings.com’s Ethan Sears weighed in as well:
Pius Suter notches three assists
As far as the Red Wings’ debuts on Thursday night, Pius Suter was relatively under the radar coming into the game.
That will no longer be the case following Thursday’s effort. Suter was involved in two second period Red Wings goals. The first came when Robby Fabbri put home a rebound off his shot for Detroit’s first goal of the night. The second, to make it 4-2, was created when Suter won an offensive zone faceoff to set up a Luke Witkowski wrist shot that found the back of the net.
Though in just his second season in the NHL, the hype around Suter isn’t quite at the level of Moritz Seider or Raymond. But he projects to be a top six player for the Red Wings this year, and it was obvious why from early in the game. Centering a line with Raymond and Fabbri, Suter was at the center of several scoring chances early on, registering four shots along with a number of high-danger passes and takeaways in the first period. Suter’s line was active throughout, with play driven in large part by him. He finished plus-4, the third assist being the secondary one on Fabbri’s empty-netter.
Statistically, the Game Summary and Event Summary are available:
In the multimedia department, both the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News posted photo galleries;
As the game was an online stream, there are no highlights available, but I can give you the following clips:
Here’s Robby Fabbri’s 1-1 marker…
Brad Galli’s clip of Lucas Raymond’s goal…
Troy Stecher’s goal…
And Luke Witkowski’s goal:
