CHICAGO (AP) — Lucas Raymond had three goals and an assist, and the Detroit Red Wings beat the winless Chicago Blackhawks 6-3 on Sunday night.
Tyler Bertuzzi added a goal and two assists as Detroit bounced back nicely after a 6-1 loss at Montreal on Saturday night. Carter Rowney and Vladislav Namestnikov also scored, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 32 saves.
The 19-year-old Raymond, the No. 4 overall pick in last year’s draft, recorded his first career hat trick in his sixth NHL game.
Short-handed Chicago dropped to 0-5-1 in a nightmarish start for a team with playoff aspirations. It has yet to lead this season; at 360 minutes, 57 seconds, it’s the NHL’s longest such streak to open a campaign since at least the 1979-80 season, according to Sportradar.
The Blackhawks played without Patrick Kane, Riley Stillman and Jujhar Khaira because of the league’s COVID-19 protocol. Assistant coach Marc Crawford also was absent because of the protocol.
The crowd of 19,042 stopped the Blackhawks’ sellout streak at 535 games. There were periodic boos the whole night, broken up by an occasional “Let’s go Red Wings!” coming from a vocal group of fans in the upper deck.
Dominik Kubalik, Tyler Johnson and Henrik Borgstrom scored for Chicago. Captain Jonathan Toews had two assists for his first points since missing all of last season with what he described as chronic immune response syndrome.
The Blackhawks had a third-period goal waved off because of goaltender interference, and Alex DeBrincat was robbed on an outstanding stick save by a diving Nedeljkovic.
Rowney put Detroit ahead to stay when he banked the puck in off the left skate of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury 4:22 into the second — the first of four goals in the period for the Red Wings.
Namestnikov made it 3-1 when he jumped on a loose puck in front and poked it through Fleury’s legs at 7:33. Bertuzzi was credited with his sixth goal when Blackhawks forward Reese Johnson had one go in off his left skate at 9:19.
After Kubalik converted a power-play slap shot for Chicago, Raymond knocked home a rebound to make it 5-2 with 59.2 seconds left in the second.
Raymond tacked on a power-play goal 7:00 minutes in the third. He began the day with one goal and two assists in five games.
THE END
Danny Wirtz, the chief executive officer for the Blackhawks, marked the end of the sellout streak with a statement thanking the fans.
“We’re actively building toward more competitive play on the ice as well as an experience that invites fans back following the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said. “But it’s also important to note that we’ve set a number of goals to welcome new and more diverse audiences into Blackhawks hockey moving forward, and greater accessibility to tickets is a big part of that.
“This is a great opportunity to reassure fans both new and old that there is absolutely a seat here for them.”
UP NEXT
Red Wings: Visit the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.
Blackhawks: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night.
