Dylan Larkin turns boos into cheers at LCA: "I'm trying to be a man and face it"

Dylan Larkin's season debut came in front of a sparse crowd at Little Caesars Arena. The fans on hand still made themselves heard when he stepped onto the ice for his first shift: Booooooooooooooooooo.

The boos were even louder when he first touched the puck.

And in a fitting moment for a franchise in disarray, the first shift of the season for the ex-captain who doesn't want to be here ended with the puck in the back of Detroit's net. It was 1-0 Senators. The Red Wings looked headed for their third straight loss on home ice to open the season.

But this will likely be a season of conflicting emotions at Little Caesars Arena, as long as Larkin lingers around the organization with an outstanding trade request.

A couple shifts later, Larkin took the ice with the Red Wings on the power play and the scored tied at 1, after an equalizer by Alex DeBrincat. The fans let him hear it again when he touched the puck. And again. But they were caught between spite and excitement when Larkin nearly scored from a low angle on the doorstep. The boos turned briefly into bursts of hope.

And when the puck found Larkin again a few moments later, at the top of the crease on a feed from Victor Arvidsson, he swiped it past goaltender Samuel Ersson, and the fans jumped to their feet and cheered. The goal horn blared, drowning out any more resentment that might have surfaced, and Larkin celebrated with his teammates.

Well, his teammates celebrated with him. It was clear that Larkin was as torn as anyone, unsure how he should react. Uncertain how he should feel, if he should feel anything at all.

Larkin has always celebrated his goals with fervor, as any NHL goal-scorer should. This time, his face was blank. His shoulders didn't flinch. He removed his mouth guard, held his stick on the ice in one hand and dutifully accepted hugs from his teammates. It was the reaction of a player who had scored late in the third period of a blowout loss.

It's possible that Larkin didn't feel worthy of the applause, and therefore didn't want to embrace it. The cheers, after all, had seconds prior been jeers. Was he supposed to bask in a moment that wasn't really his?

"I don’t want to offend anyone with over-celebrating, knowing the situation that’s going on," Larkin said. "But with all that, scoring a goal in the NHL, scoring a goal for this team, when we needed it, it felt pretty good."

When Larkin's goal was announced in Little Caesars Arena a couple minutes later, his name was met with a mixed reaction, warmer than it was cold. While there were boos, the cheers were louder.

Larkin would say afterward that he was "ready" for the boos in the home opener last Friday night, when he was drowned in disdain upon being introduced with the other players out of the Red Wings' lineup. He was ready for it again Tuesday night: "It's part of it. I'm trying to be a man and face it. I understand why that's happening. But like I said at the start of the season, I was going to try to show up with my play."

Early in the second, Larkin nearly scored again. Moments later, on the power play, he assisted on a goal by Victor Arvidsson, bouncing a shot off Ersson's pads onto Arvidsson's stick. And this time Larkin reacted with joy, smiling and pumping his fists as he met Arvidsson and his teammates in an embrace behind the net. This was their moment, and he looked genuinely happy -- and human -- to be a part of it.

It was 3-1 Red Wings, and Larkin had a goal and an assist. And then -- a fight?

We won't go so far as to call this a Gordie Howe Hat Trick. Frankly, Larkin's name no longer belongs in the company of the greatest player in franchise history, a captain who won four Cups.

But at the end of the second, the Red Wings leading 4-2, Larkin incited a scrum behind the net by going after Senators forward Ridly Greig, who had just dumped DeBrincat to the ice with a reverse shoulder to the chest. Standing up for his teammate, who earlier in the day had stood up for him by publicly backing Larkin in the media, Larkin tracked down Greig and objected to the hit, albeit rather gently. Rather tentatively.

Larkin quickly fell to the ice, while a bit of a brawl broke out behind the net. Ben Chiarot whaled away on Greig, and Emmitt Finnie exchanged blows with with defenseman Jordan Spence. Finnie eventually wrestled Spence to the ice, and emerged on top with a bloodied face. Larkin was but a bit part by the end of the fracas, but he was nevertheless in the middle of maybe the most spirited moment of the young season for Detroit.

"The pack mentality, the good teams do it, and you need it. It didn’t go well for me," Larkin said with a laugh, "but it was nice to see the four other guys in there when I got up."

A Let's Go Red Wings! chant rose up from the suddenly spunky crowd, and it started to feel like hockey season. Larkin got two minutes for roughing. If everything briefly felt normal again for Larkin, it didn't last: He was clowned as he skated off the ice by Senators agitator Nick Cousins, who pointed to the blank spot of his jersey where Larkin used to wear a 'C.'

Larkin objected, yelling back at Cousins in a glimpse of raw emotion. His teammates patted him on the back as he eventually turned and made his way down the tunnel. The crowd seemed to appreciate Larkin showing a little soul. He said it felt good "to be a hockey player again" after the Red Wings' 5-3 win. Larkin's first two points led to Detroit's first two points.

"I mean, for a hockey player it's the best medicine, just to play, and just enjoy it. And think about the kid that would be killing to be out there," he said. "That's, really for all of us, what it’s all about."

All is not forgiven. Larkin's days in Detroit are likely still numbered. He has not rescinded his request to be traded, nor has he offered the fans the "honesty" he promised them at an empty press conference last month, though he was certainly more open in his postgame comments Tuesday night.

Upon being named the first star of the game, Larkin waved to the crowd and was met with another round of cheers and a smattering of boos. He said with a smile that when he met his teammates in the locker room, "I was like, why is everyone slow-clapping me? It was good, it's meaningful. There's a lot of people in here that I love deeply and mean a lot to me and my career. It was pretty emotional coming back in."

Emotions will color everything Larkin does this season, good or bad, for as long as he's here. And in 60 minutes of hockey, Larkin learned first-hand how he can start to color this picture himself.