Chemistry is a delicate thing, and Steve Yzerman must consider this as the NHL trade deadline approaches.

His Detroit Red Wings are playing well, and playing together, and won again Saturday afternoon, beating the St. Louis Blues, 6-1.

The Blues aren’t the Colorado Avalanche, but they’re a respectable team holding onto a wild-card spot in the Western Conference, and they had no chance as the Wings steadied their own hold on a wild-card spot in the East.

Not with so many forwards ripping down the ice and finding each other in exactly the right moments — well, defensemen, too, considering it was Shayne Gostisbehere who slipped an across-the-net pass to a streaking Patrick Kane for a one-timer 33 seconds into the game, obliterating any thought of a post-Colorado hangover.

Less than 4 minutes later, Michael Rasmussen flicked a wrist shot past poor Jordan Bennington, who was pulled after the first period. And while Rasmussen, fresh off a four-year extension, keeps rewarding that faith and remains a critical — and versatile — piece for Derek Lalonde, his goal arrived courtesy of a Lucas Raymond escort.

The third-year forward isn’t so easy to knock off the puck these days and he’s taking that developing strength straight into the wheelhouse of his game: vision.

Oh, and patience, and to watch him rush up the right side with the puck, waiting, waiting, holding it steady until a crease opened in front of the goal and only then whip it back to Rasmussen, well, it was reminiscent of a few Wings who’ve come before him, and of a time when the franchise was known for possessing the puck.

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Raymond's calm and patience are leading to scoring chances and have been for a while. Saturday, those gifts led to goals — two of them in fact, with the first to Rasmussen and the second to J.T. Compher. Actually, Compher’s skate did the work, serving as a backboard, redirecting Raymond’s pass from the near the left face-off circle.

Raymond took the puck from the right side, slid around the back of the goal, turned and, again, waited, just a second, before trying to hit Compher. Headiness is a talent, of course, and sometimes a surprise for someone so young — he's still only 21.

Both Rasmussen and Raymond are among the 12 double-digit goal scorers on the roster — 11 of them are forwards, and though the team may not have an “in-prime” superstar, they’ve got a handful of stars and a bevy of professional difference-makers, aligned and connected and determined to make some noise.

How much noise is the question, right?

"The boys were skating," Lalonde said. "Outside of some sloppy puck play in the second, it was a pretty complete game. We know if we're going to stay in this battle, and even get above that line in the end, we're going to need every single point. ... We're in a stretch of playing some really good hockey and I just think it's more about when you're peaking in your game, take advantage of it. And we're doing that right now."

“Right now” is the key phrase here. How long it lasts is another question. As Lalonde also noted, “downs” are coming.

Last year, the downs came in Ottawa and then against Tampa, and were enough to convince Yzerman the team wasn’t ready, and so he shipped off Tyler Bertuzzi, among others, and that was the season.

But Lalonde said after Thursday's overtime win against Colorado that his team was playing above its weight last year, and that this stretch feels different. You can bet that if Lalonde feels it, and the players increasingly feel it, as they say they do, then Yzerman feels it, too.

And sees it, as he did again Saturday.

Last year, he sold at the deadline. It’d be a surprise if he did again, not with the way this team is scoring, and increasingly defending, and even tending goal — Alex Lyon gave up a single goal for the second straight game.

A splashy trade deadline move isn’t on the docket, either, nor should it be. This team is still relatively young, and even as good as they’ve looked the last seven weeks, and even as unpredictable as the NHL playoffs can be, this team is more than a player away from a serious Stanley Cup run.

Then again, Raymond is coming, Dylan Larkin is here, Alex DeBrincat is scoring again, and Patrick Kane never left. It seems like that anyway.

“I think he thinks he’s 23 again,” said Lalonde. “He wants every O-zone faceoff.”

It’s tempting to say Kane has been a revelation, but then that discounts the Hall of Fame work he did in Chicago all those years. The more accurate description is that he looks like an older version of his all-time self.

Said Lalonde: “I think he’ll just perform like he’s done throughout his entire career.”

And when he’s flashing up the ice with DeBrincat, well, Larkin has never had so much room, or better goal scorers next to him. If nothing else, it’s tantalizing to think about if everyone stays on the ice. But the three of them don’t have to do it alone.

Nor have they.

The strength of this team remains its depth, and that most nights someone on one of the four lines, or even someone who operates from the blueline, will find a way to the net, or find someone else who can guide the puck in there.

No one knows where it’s coming from game to game, including opponents, and that carries its own kind of weight, weight that reads like confidence and chemistry and, frankly, fun.

It has been a while, Hockeytown. And as long as Yzerman doesn’t sell, it should be this way for a while longer, maybe even into the spring.

Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him @shawnwindsor.

Next up: Blackhawks

Matchup: Red Wings (31-20-6) at Chicago (15-39-4).

Faceoff: 6 p.m. Sunday; United Center, Chicago.

TV/radio: BSD; WXYT-FM (97.1).

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings make you think they can make noise in playoffs