DETROIT — Lucas Raymond finally got into the goal scoring column and it ignited the Red Wings to a victory.
Shortly after being robbed on the power play, Raymond took a feed from Dylan Larkin and ripped a shot over the glove of Columbus goalie Joonas Korpisalo in the third period, sparking the Wings to a 4-1 victory.
It was the first career NHL goal for Raymond, who saw linemate Tyler Bertuzzi quickly make it 2-0 just 2:36 later.
Larkin was the distributor on that goal, also, on a 2-on-1 rush finding Bertuzzi near the hashmarks for Berutzzi's fifth goal.
The Wings appeared to be in control, but allowed Columbus back on the power play after Raymond was hit hard by Jack Roslovic near the boards, leading Larkin and Bertuzzi to go after the Columbus forward.
Bertuzzi was given a roughing penalty, Columbus went on the power play, and promptly cut the lead to 2-1 on Boone Jenner's backhand in close on goaltender Thomas Greiss.
Vladislav Namestnikov and Adam Erne (with an assist from Namestnikov) scored empty net goals in the final 90 seconds to cement the victory.
The Wings outshot Columbus 45-23, but were consistently frustrated by Korpisalo, who was Columbus' best player.
The Wings had an excellent opportunity with a 1:34 two-man advantage midway in the second period. But Korpisalo was up to the task, with his best save, smothering the puck on Larkin's drive to the post, attempting to sneak the puck between Korpisalo's pad and the post.
Though not the crowd of the first two games, it was another lively night at Little Caesars Arena, which has been the case throughout this season-opening homestand.
The noisy crowds have been a key early factor in the Wings attempting to regain a definitive home-ice advantage.
“The atmosphere has been great, both games were highly emotional which is a positive,” said coach Jeff Blashill after the morning skate.
Detroit defenseman Moritz Seider tries to get the puck past Columbus defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov during the first period.
“We want to play with lots of compete and emotion. The crowds have been awesome. It’s a loud building. It’s been a while since we had that (fans weren't allowed in the building last season because of the pandemic).
"The first game in this building (2017), we didn’t have enough people in the seats. There were lots of people here but they were either in the club level eating or checking out how beautiful the arena is.
"Now everybody is in the seats, and it just seems really, really loud.”
While Korpisalo was superb, Greiss was equally impressive for the Wings.
Greiss, who starred in Saturday's victory over Vancouver in a 40-save performance, was again sharp.
Early in the first period, Greiss made a great stop on Yegor Chinakhov on a 2-on-1 rush setting the tone for the game.
Greiss is 8-0-3 in his last 11 decisions going back to last season, with two shutouts.
“He had similar games last season and wasn’t getting results early on,” said defenseman Marc Staal after the Vancouver win.
Greiss has been his most effective in recent seasons when not carrying the entire workload, and playing in a goaltending tandem.
The situation worked perfectly last season with Jonathan Bernier, other than when Bernier went down with injuries. Bernier was out for a lengthy period the first month of last season, forcing Greiss to play more than ideally.
Blashill said after the Vancouver victory that he wants Greiss and Alex Nedeljkovic to be an effective tandem, but Greiss will apparently get rest.
“The time Greisser struggled last year was when (Jonathan Bernier) was out and he ended up playing too much probably,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “Greisser is a guy that with enough rest plays really good hockey. He’s done it throughout his career. That’s what his numbers say.”
