Dylan Larkin is trying to let go of the past. So are the Red Wings, climbing in the East as they aim to snap a seven-year playoff drought. But the past has a way of creeping back up in the present.
The Avalanche were in town Thursday night, a surefire Stanley Cup contender. Darren McCarty was in the building. During an interview on the Jumbotron at Little Caesars Arena, he spoke with the sizzle of his bright pink mohawk and said the Avs are what the Wings are trying to become.
Then the Wings erased another third-period deficit and beat their blood rivals in overtime for their best win of the season. A couple octopi even splattered on the ice, calling to mind the words of Patrick Kane a day prior: "It'd be great to get back to the playoffs and see what Hockeytown's all about."
Kane spent some of his formative years here in Hockeytown, which is part of what lured him to the Red Wings as a free agent. When Kane was a teen going to games at The Joe with Pat Verbeek, his billet dad while he played for AAA club Honeybaked, Moritz Seider was somewhere in Germany learning how to walk. Now he stands tall on Detroit's blue line, a 22-year-old staring down the opposition's top players every night.
He played a cool 22:47 against the Avs, mostly against Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, whose lone moment of brilliance came without Seider on the ice. Asked the day before about making a statement against a team like Colorado, Seider said, "We just want to beat them. We're hungry. We've had enough of losing against big teams. And it shouldn’t be random anymore to beat those kind of teams." That was a statement in itself.
When Seider arrived two seasons ago, it was a surprise when the rebuilding Wings beat a top-tier team. They just didn't measure up in measuring-stick games. He admitted that "there were times where it was just not as bad if we lost a game or two or maybe even three. It was kind of OK. And now we have a lot of pressure on our shoulders to perform. In those games, we want to give something back. We want to represent our organization."
Already this season, the Wings have banked wins against the last three Cup champs: Vegas, Colorado and Tampa. They're 6-4 against Boston, Florida, Toronto and Tampa -- the powers that be in their division -- and 8-9 against their fellow playoff teams in the East. They're riding a surprise goalie in Alex Lyon, who highlighted another clutch performance Thursday night with a breakaway save in OT. They lead the NHL in comeback wins. As meaningful games beckon in March, the Red Wings are proving more and more that they belong.
"We feel like we can make a run to the playoffs," said Kane. "I've said this before, it's a group in here that can win a seven-game series against anyone."
Kane would know. He's only played in 25 playoff series in his career, and won three Stanley Cups. He was also drawn to the Wings for their depth, figuring he could slide into the lineup without having "the weight of the world on your shoulders" to lift the offense. Depth, says Kane, is the mark of a contender, and Detroit now leads the NHL with 12 double-digit goal-scorers. Kane joined the club with the game-winner against the Avs when he buried a one-timer off a behind-the-back pass by Larkin.
After signing Kane to a one-year deal coming off a hip resurfacing procedure, Steve Yzerman said the Wings "expect him to be better than he was last year, closer to the player he was two years ago." Kane himself said, "I know for a fact that I’m going to be better than I was last year," when he put up 57 points in 73 games with the Blackhawks and Rangers. He has 24 points in 25 games with Detroit, and his impact is visible both on the ice and above it.
"Our building has gotten a boost," said Larkin. "We call it The Kaner Effect. You notice that the top of the upper bowl is full every night."
That's also the winning effect. The Wings are on pace for 96 points, which would be their most since Zetterberg was captain and Babcock was coach. The captain these days is Larkin, who continues to elevate his game. He tied things in the third Thursday night with a nifty finish on the power play, his 25th goal in his 50th game this season, which puts him on track to blow past his career high. And he set up the overtime winner by collapsing the Avs with his speed and dropping the puck to a player known as Showtime. Kane emerged from the celebration along the boards to pump up the crowd at center ice: Are you not entertained?
"He’s our best player," Lalonde said of Larkin. "He’s our 1C. I think he’s a star in this league. I get the next-tier guys, MacKinnon, McDavid, Kucherov, guys that have come through here. But he feels like that for us."
Larkin, 27, has been through a lot as captain of his favorite team. The dream, at times, has probably felt more like a nightmare. He's been the face of losing for a franchise proud of winning, and injuries and personal matters have taken their toll.
Just this season, Larkin took a leave from the team after his wife endured a miscarriage, then was knocked unconscious by a blow to the back of the head a few games after his return. His ensuing absence sent the Wings into a December tailspin. As their fortunes finally start to change, Larkin looks and sounds refreshed. His legs appear lighter. He said that "one thing I've worked on is to let go of the past."
"We got a lot of new guys in this locker room and it’s not the same group as 2018 and 2019. It’s not a poor-me thing," he said. "We got a lot of guys that have worked extremely hard all season and sacrificed a lot. We got good players in that room that want to write a new story."
Yzerman is in control of the next chapter, as the March 8 trade deadline looms. When the Red Wings faded in a similar spot last season, albeit with a less talented team, Yzerman made the calculated decision to sell. The Tyler Bertuzzi trade brought Larkin to tears, a day after Larkin had signed a $70 million extension. The rest of the season was ugly. As Larkin said Thursday, "We know -- well, we don’t know what the trade deadline could be like. But we know from last year what happened."
What happened in the offseason was just as important. Yzerman brought in a new wave of proven players, headlined by sniper Alex DeBrincat. He attacked free agency like a general manager mindful of the present. He could prioritize the future at the deadline by shopping rentals like Kane, or allow this team to continue proving its worth. For a core of players foreign to high-stakes games in the NHL, a playoff race could prove valuable itself.
"There’s not too much trade deadline talk in here," DeBrincat said. "Steve’s going to make a decision and that’s his call to make. We can kind of force his hand and play well, but it is what it is. We all know what we can do in here and we believe in ourselves. I’ve been on teams that have sold at the deadline and it’s been the talk in the locker room for weeks coming in. That’s just not something we’re worried about right now. We have better things to worry about and important games to play."
With their newfound depth up front, Lalonde said the Wings are "finding some of those goals" they lacked last season. He was referring to pucks in the net, off the sticks of talented players. But the Red Wings' larger goals are clear. They have a six-lead point on a playoff spot with two months to go, and "we're not satisfied," said Larkin. "We want more."
"I don’t feel like this group will ever get comfortable, but we want to get in a spot where the last couple weeks of the season we’re trying to win games to see who we’re going to play against," he said.
In other words, said DeBrincat, "For us, the playoffs start now."