{"id":317743,"date":"2025-10-20T04:53:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T04:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/317743\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T04:53:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T04:53:14","slug":"the-red-wings-are-off-to-a-roaring-start-and-dylan-larkin-is-powering-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/317743\/","title":{"rendered":"The Red Wings are off to a roaring start, and Dylan Larkin is powering it"},"content":{"rendered":"

DETROIT \u2014 Dylan Larkin knew what he was in for Sunday.<\/p>\n

He and Connor McDavid came into the NHL at the same time, in 2015, and over the years, Larkin has been asked time and again go to head-to-head with the world\u2019s best player. Through it, he\u2019s developed a certain mindset when it comes to that matchup \u2014 one that demands realism more than anything else.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s 0-0 while we\u2019re out on the ice together,\u201d Larkin said, \u201cI think it gives our team a good chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunday, he did a bit better than that.<\/p>\n

Larkin scored two goals and added two assists, tying a career high four points in the Red Wings\u2019 4-2 win over the Oilers on Sunday. He held McDavid to just two shots on goal, in nearly 17 minutes matched head-to-head with the three-time MVP. And in the process, he helped power the Red Wings\u2019 fifth straight victory, which has Detroit in first place in the Atlantic Division to begin the year.<\/p>\n

As good as Larkin has been through his 11 seasons with the Red Wings, you can make a real case that Sunday was one of the best games of his career.<\/p>\n

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Dylan Larkin’s one-timer breaks the ice in Detroit \ud83e\uddca<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa: Oilers vs. Red Wings LIVE on Sportsnet pic.twitter.com\/iHBdVYAuxM<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 19, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s not solely because of the matchup, but it certainly helps. There\u2019s no player in the league quite like McDavid, whose speed, skill and processing ability give him singular game-breaking ability when he\u2019s on the ice.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou almost don\u2019t think about offense when you play against him,\u201d Larkin said. \u201cAnd it doesn\u2019t help when (Leon) Draisaitl\u2019s playing with him all night. His speed \u2014 you\u2019re a step behind, you\u2019re a half step behind, you\u2019re even with him, you\u2019re screwed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Larkin, though, is one of the few players in the NHL whose skating can approach that level. He also has the precise kind of competitive attitude to embrace a matchup like that \u2014 even when it\u2019s complicated by the addition of Draisaitl, himself an MVP winner whose hockey sense and playmaking throw in a whole new wrinkle.<\/p>\n

Playing alongside Larkin for that matchup were Lucas Raymond \u2014 the Red Wings\u2019 star winger, returning from a multi-game absence due to an upper-body injury \u2014 and Emmitt Finnie, the 20-year-old rookie who has tuned heads in Detroit all fall. And on most nights, that\u2019s the line the Red Wings will be looking to for offense.<\/p>\n

But from early in the game Sunday, their approach was clear. It was 0-0 after the first period, with shots just 7-3 in Detroit\u2019s favor. None of those belonged to the McDavid line.<\/p>\n

Hockey has a way of rewarding those who buy into its hardest demands, and Sunday was a case in point for that top Red Wings line.<\/p>\n

Early in the second period, Larkin won an offensive zone face-off and then got to the slot, where he opened the scoring by blasting home a one-timer from Ben Chiarot. Then, after killing off an Oilers power play, it was Finnie coming through, getting to the net and banging home a rebound for his first NHL goal.<\/p>\n

Finnie has been a fairy tale story for the Red Wings since the start of training camp, where he burst onto the scene thanks to his speed and fearlessness. A seventh-round pick just two years ago, the 20-year-old had impressed at virtually all of Detroit\u2019s prospect events since he was drafted, but he was still expected to need some time in Grand Rapids before competing for a bottom-six role in the NHL.<\/p>\n

Instead? The jump he brought to the ice in training camp earned him some preseason looks on Detroit\u2019s top line, which was in desperate need of a running mate next to Larkin and Raymond. With his motor, courage and poise, Finnie looked just the part, and continued to, throughout the preseason. Detroit\u2019s management group couldn\u2019t ignore it, and he made the opening night roster.<\/p>\n

Now, six games in, here he was, matched up against two of the best players on the planet \u2014 and scoring.<\/p>\n

As great as Larkin\u2019s effort was on Sunday, it doesn\u2019t work without Raymond gutting it out despite clearly not being 100 percent, or a staggeringly mature effort from the rookie Finnie, who finished with three points to go with four hits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a reason why he was a captain in juniors,\u201d Larkin said of Finnie. \u201cHe does the little things that win hockey games, and to see him score his first tonight was awesome, and sure enough, right around the net. He goes to the net hard, he plays without fear, and just a great teammate \u2014 great linemate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finnie was even at the net front screening, and looking for a tip, when Larkin scored his second of the night \u2014 a seemingly innocuous puck fired from the wall that may have surprised Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner, and appeared to deflect off Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm on the way in.<\/p>\n

It would be one thing if Sunday\u2019s win had been a one-off. Edmonton was in tough, coming in on the second leg of a back-to-back, and that circumstance obviously matters.<\/p>\n

But the moment was even more impressive considering the 4-2 victory was Detroit\u2019s fifth straight since losing its season opener, and Larkin has been a crucial factor in nearly all of them.<\/p>\n

After Montreal walked out of Little Caesars Arena with a 5-1 win, Larkin has points in all five Red Wings games since, including some monster ones. He opened the scoring in a crucial road win in Toronto. He had two assists in a 4-1 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers on National TV Wednesday. And then he buried an overtime winner Friday to take down the Tampa Bay Lightning.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s before mentioning the injuries to Detroit\u2019s other top forwards, Raymond and Patrick Kane (who missed Sunday\u2019s game with an upper-body injury), or the fact Larkin himself missed Saturday\u2019s practice for a maintenance day of his own.<\/p>\n

It all just adds to just how good Larkin has been, at a time the Red Wings have desperately needed him to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything a captain should be,\u201d coach Todd McLellan said. \u201cLeadership \u2014 and leadership isn\u2019t just \u2018rah\u2019rah,\u2019 a lot of times it\u2019s leading by example. He\u2019s done a tremendous job. We\u2019re early in the season, and he\u2019s playing banged up a little bit. But everything that we should see from Dylan, we\u2019re seeing from him right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Larkin, too, was quick on Sunday to highlight all the players besides himself who have played key roles in this early hot streak. He shouted out Albert Johansson, who was indeed quite good defensively Sunday at disrupting the Oilers attack. He pointed to Mason Appleton\u2019s contributions when Raymond was out, and the plays veteran James van Riemsdyk has made in Detroit\u2019s bottom six.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have guys contributing in ways that aren\u2019t on the scoresheet,\u201d Larkin said.<\/p>\n

The calendar still says October, of course, and the Red Wings have learned over the last several years how fast a season can turn. They don\u2019t have the luxury to celebrate what they\u2019re doing right now.<\/p>\n

But on a day like Sunday, with Larkin matching his career high in points while playing perhaps the toughest defensive matchup he\u2019ll take all season, a bit of recognition was more than warranted. Especially for the way it happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s funny, when you don\u2019t think about offense, how offense comes,\u201d Larkin said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how the Red Wings ran their win streak to five games \u2014 and perhaps a blueprint for what it will take to keep the good vibes rolling.<\/p>\n