It was a late night for Red Wings fans as the team squared off in a 10 p.m.. matchup with the Vancouver Canucks on the West Coast, but luckily for the fanbase, Detroit’s team seemed to have this one in the bag early, scoring three first-period goals and holding the lead the entire night for a 5-2 victory

Lucas Raymond put the Red Wings on the scoreboard first, tipping in Albert Johansson’s shot from the blue line before the five-minute mark of the game. Rookie defenseman William Wallinder made the best of his time back in the lineup in just his fifth game this season, scoring the Red Wings’ second goal of the night to put the team up 2-0 before another two minutes had elapsed on the game clock.

Anton Johansson’s two-minute delay-of-game penalty gave Elias Pettersson and the Canucks’ power play the chance to respond, pulling the home team within one a minute later.

The Red Wings would regain their two-goal lead before the halfway point of the first period, with Raymond scoring his second goal and third point of the night with just over 11 minutes left on the clock in the first.

Detroit would dominate the second period, with Michael Rasmussen scoring his first goal in 35 games to put the Red Wings up 4-1 late in the frame as their defense managed to limit the Canucks to just five shots on net through the 40-minute mark. Vancouver went the entire second period without registering a shot on goal.

Michal Postava came in to start the third period in the Detroit goal, making his NHL debut in relief. John Gibson exited after the second period with an upper-body injury. Emmitt Finnie would add to the Red Wings lead to make it 5-1 early in the third period as Postava turned away the first three shots faced before Canucks forward rush had him overextend, and Jonathan Lekkerimäki was there to cut the Red Wings lead back down to three goals.

Takeaways

The Red Wings’ defensive effort tonight, even against a struggling Canucks squad, was impressive. They certainly were in need of that defensive effort for the third period, with rookie netminder Postava getting his first taste of NHL action. Detroit has two more games on the road, and with the uncertain status of both Daniil Tarasov and Gibson, they may be turning to Postava for the foreseeable future.

The Red Wings will, however, need to carry their offensive efforts into their next games as well if they hope to maintain their points streak, extending it to six games tonight with the win in Vancouver.

Key Moment

Postava stepped into the Red Wings net with a three-goal lead and helped the Red Wings to keep that lead tonight. While the rookie goaltender did allow a goal in his debut performance, the Red Wings and Postava didn’t let that shake them to give the Canucks momentum. Postava stopped the rest of the shots he faced tonight after that one goal.

Key Stat

Raymond had zero regulation goals in the eight games before the start of the Red Wings road trip. Tonight, the winger had two goals before the 10-minute mark of the matchup, and has three in the last two games. His second goal tonight in the first period would ultimately prove to be the game-winner.

Up Next

The Red Wings have another late-night matchup against the Calgary Flames as they approach the end of their road trip. Puck drop is scheduled for 10 p.m. EST on Saturday from the Saddledome, which is in its final season of operation.