DETROIT >> The Red Wings continue to hang around, clawing and nipping at the teams above them in the playoff race.

They aren’t going quietly away.

Playing Pacific Division-leading Vegas on Sunday, the Wings shut out the Golden Knights, 3-0, in one of their best defensive performances of the season.

Goaltender Petr Mrazek only needed to stop 17 shots to post his 26th career shutout, and Albert Johansson, Lucas Raymond and Marco Kasper scored goals as the Wings moved to within two points of a playoff berth with two teams ahead of them.

“Looking up at the end of the night at the scoreboard was a real good thing for our team,” coach Todd McLellan said. “Considering the opponent, the type of game they play, it was a pretty good night for a lot of our players and should give us a little bit of confidence.”

It starts with Mrazek, who has given the Wings a lift since being acquired at the trade deadline. Mrazek has posted a 2-1-0 record with a 2.01 goals-against average, 920 save percentage and one shutout in three appearances since rejoining the Red Wings.

Sunday’s game was the third consecutive start for Mrazek, who appears to have stabilized the goaltending position.

“His performance was excellent,” McLellan said. “They didn’t have many shots, but they had some difficult ones that got through traffic and last-minute type of saves and scrambles around the paint and he handled it well.”

McLellan believes Mrazek has given the Wings a sense of confidence.

“This isn’t a swing at the other two goaltenders (Alex Lyon, Cam Talbot), but you can feel it on the bench,” McLellan said. “When a save is made, the energy that is on the bench right now with Petr in the pipes, and when the puck does go in, there’s not a big sag.”

Johansson opened the scoring with his second goal, midway in the second period. Johansson took a pass from Vladimir Tarasenko near the hashmarks, made a nifty move net-front on goaltender Ilya Samsonov, and gently tucked the puck in at 7:58.

Johansson played a season-high 21 minutes, 49 seconds, with three blocked shots and a plus-two rating.

“It’s not a real surprise,” Kasper said of the Johansson highlight-reel goal.

“We knew he can do it. He’s an awesome player. It was a great move and a great goal, to finish it off like that, that’s great to see.”

Raymond pushed the lead to 2-0 with his 23rd goal, but first in 11 games. After a couple of failed attempts by Vegas to control the puck, Raymond cut through the slot and ripped a shot past Samsonov at 4:51 of the third period.

Kasper then put the game away with his 13th goal. Erik Gustafsson found Kasper driving alone toward the net and feathered a pass that Kasper redirected past Samsonov at 11:14.

The Wings open a stretch of four consecutive road games Tuesday at Eastern Conference-leading Washington with the playoff chase acutely still going on.

“When you are battling for playoffs, it’s the best time of the year,” Mrazek said.

“We know we are right now. The excitement is around the room.

“Every day you come to work and to practice, we know what we signed up for and what we have left. Fifteen games (left) and that’s the excitement for us.

“We’re looking forward to the challenge.”

Impressive Johansson

Both of Johansson’s goals have been game-winning goals, as he netted what proved to be the game-winning goal on Jan. 10 against Chicago.

But this game, in particular, was an eye-opener for Johansson, who excelled at both ends of the rink.

“His game was outstanding,” McLellan said.

“There were so many little things that he did when we didn’t have the puck in our end, breaking up plays and good reads and reaction type of situations. There was something dangerous about to happen and he was there to kill the play.

“The play on his goal was a very nice goal, a poised goal.

“Those are all good things.”

Johansson’s poise, in his first NHL season, impresses McLellan.

“His poise, growth, confidence, competitiveness are all the things that are hard to measure, that aren’t on the stat sheet, they’re intangibles,” McLellan said.

Ice chips

Raymond has 36 points (10 goals, 26 assists) in 33 games dating to Dec. 27.

His goal Sunday was his first in 11 games.

“You could feel a sense of relief,” McLellan said.

… Kasper leads all NHL rookies with 11 goals since Jan. 10. Macklin Celebrini (San Jose) and Matvei Michkov (Philadelphia) both have eight goals in that span.

… The Wings have 18 goals from rookies this season, trailing only San Jose (46), Dallas (24), Anaheim (23) and Philadelphia (21) for most among all NHL teams.

… McLellan earned his 617th career win Sunday, tying Bruce Boudreau and Jacques Lemaire for 22nd place in NHL history.

… The Wings are 19-6-5 when scoring first in a game this season.

They are 23-2-2 when leading games after 40 minutes.

… Mrazek’s span of 2,611 days between shutouts for Detroit is the fifth-longest in NHL history by a goaltender for the same franchise behind Pete Peeters (3,312 days, Philadelphia), Bill Ranford (3,280 days, Boston), Brian Boucher (3,064 days, Philadelphia) and Roberto Luongo (2,950 days, Florida).