Raymond's First-Period Burst Powers Red Wings Past Skidding Canucks

Lucas Raymond delivered a first-period masterclass on Thursday night, scoring twice and adding an assist to power the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena.

The win extended Vancouver's misery to nine straight games (0-8-1), piling pressure on a club already sitting at 2-9-1. Michael Brandsegg-Nygård and Viktor Arvidsson each recorded two assists for Detroit, which controlled the game after Raymond's explosive opening frame.

There was drama in the Detroit net. Starter John Gibson stopped four of five shots over two periods before leaving with something in his eye, and recalled rookie Michal Postava made seven saves in relief in his NHL debut. Postava had been recalled earlier in the day from Grand Rapids following Daniil Tarasov's practice injury, flying out at 6 a.m. with a Minneapolis stopover. "Happy for him, and congratulations, you're in the NHL now," coach Todd McLellan said. Gibson's eye issue is not believed to be serious.

Jonathan Lekkerimäki had a goal and an assist for Vancouver, with Elias Pettersson also scoring. Kevin Lankinen made 26 saves in the loss.