"That was a goalie win," Lalonde said of goaltender Alex Lyon, who made 37 saves and looked like the Alex Lyon from earlier in the season with his poise, confidence and competitiveness in net. "I know we shut them out five-on-five, but that's a high-end offensive team. We blocked shots (27), did good things in the hard-scoring area.
"But that was a strong performance by him, and we needed it. He was our best player in the third period. That team had some looks and some real good looks, that he kept out of the net."...
Lyon feels the Wings are getting increasingly comfortable in these sort of high-pressure, season-defining games.
"For sure," Lyon said. "It's always a learning experience, a lot of the guys in our room have played in big games. It's muscle memory and it's brain memory and kind of the way you're thinking and feeling, and the more you expose yourself to it, it's like anything else, you get better at it."...
The Wings blocked 27 shots Sunday, with Moritz Seider's 10 blocks totalling more than the Sabres had as a team (nine).
It's a statistic Lalonde enjoyed hearing and feels is important for a winning team.
"A little of that is them having the puck in the third (period) and especially the goalie pull situation but it's our willigness to do it," Lalonde said. "Winning is hard and we're finding out how hard it is. It's real hockey, it's the NHL, and it's always tough but this is next level type of stuff.
"Our guys stepped up."...
Raymond's goal and assist, along with a team-leading five shots and two takeaways in over 21 minutes of ice time has been indicative of his recent play.
"You can see guys elevating (their play) and Raymond has been unbelievable," Lalonde said. "You could see Raymond building in the last two years I've been here, the whole package. Now he's driving us in these big games."
Below catch the extended game highlights.