Having been teammates with Dylan Larkin at the World Championships, Patrick Kane "knew how special of a player he was" when they joined forces this year in Detroit. He learned soon thereafter just how deeply Larkin cared.
"One thing I’ve noticed is just his leadership," Kane said earlier this season. "How not only can you say the right things in the locker room, but you bring it on the ice every night. He’s obviously been very productive offensively, but the way he’s in every situation for the team, penalty kill, big face-offs, up a goal (he's) on the ice, I just think the overall total package is something that sticks out."
Now, with two games remaining in the season, Larkin is trying to lead the Red Wings back to the playoffs. With a pair of wins against the Canadiens and a little help around the league, Detroit can leapfrog Washington for the second wild card spot in the East and snap a seven-year playoff drought, tied for the longest in Red Wings' history. Larkin could tell you about their storied past as a Waterford native who grew up watching the team at The Joe. Now they're aiming to bring playoff hockey to LCA.
They took a step in that direction Saturday night in Toronto when Larkin redirected a pass from Kane for the game-winner in overtime. Larkin -- who made the playoffs as a 19-year-old rookie in Detroit and hasn't been back since -- nearly leapt out of his skates celebrating the goal, his career-high 33rd of the season. Defenseman Ben Chiarot, who's played in 66 playoff games including the Stanley Cup Finals, smiled on Monday replaying the scene in his mind.
"He drives the bus for us every night," said Chiarot. "He’s our best player. Our captain. We go as he goes. Like you saw when he was out of our lineup, it’s a massive, massive hole for us. A local guy, playing for his hometown team, to be driving the group forward, it's impressive. Really happy for him."
Kane is obviously the most decorated player on the Red Wings, a three-time Cup champ and a Conn Smythe winner with 143 playoff games to his name. David Perron is up there himself, with a Stanley Cup and 104 playoff games under his belt. A pair of first-round picks in the 2007 draft, Kane and Perron are both in their 17th NHL seasons. Larkin, a first-rounder in 2014, is in his ninth.
The Red Wings captain has been through the ringer in Detroit. He took the torch, and ultimately the C, from Henrik Zetterberg just as the organization was plunging into a rebuild from which it's yet to reap any rewards. He's had to answer for a lot of losing, on a team known for winning. He's become an unwitting and unfitting face of defeat, a billboard for an era that Hockeytown would rather forget. The Red Wings had the most losses in the NHL over the prior seven seasons.
Larkin never stopped giving himself to the cause. He's endured numerous injuries that might shake a player to his core, a cross-check to the neck that sent him to the hospital in 2021, a blow to the head that left him unconscious and lying face-down on the ice in a game earlier this season. Off the ice, the 27-year-old has dealt with tragedy; he and his wife lost what would have been their first child to a miscarriage last year. In the past three seasons, Larkin has twice taken a leave from the team for family reasons.
Pure joy spilled out of him in Toronto. He jumped up and down like a mite upon scoring the biggest goal of his career, beaming as his teammates mobbed him on the glass. The delight on Larkin's face made the 35-year-old Perron feel young again.
"Us older guys, that’s something we want for him more than almost every player who’s been through the whole thing. I don’t share the pain that Larks and the fans have all shared over the last however many years. We have to find a way to come through for them and for Larks," said Perron. "That’d be massive."
All these high-stakes games are a thrill for Perron, who said that "it reminds you how fun it is to come to the rink and how hard it was last year to play the last several games with no meaning. You want meaning to every single game, meaning for anything you do in your life, you want to have a reason to do it." Now imagine how thrilling they are for Larkin, who's played more meaningless games in Detroit than he'd care to remember.
Perron brings an edge to the Wings' lineup. He commends Larkin and Lucas Raymond for doing the same, while also leading the team offensively: "They pour their emotions and their hearts into every game. It’s been awesome to see Larks play and keep growing as a leader. He’s been incredible."
Chiarot is right: the Red Wings go as Larkin goes. They have played at a 100-point pace this season when he's in the lineup, a 44-point pace when he's not. Their playoff hopes nearly went up in smoke when Larkin missed several games last month due to an injury. His return has helped put out the fire, and light a new one in his team.