The Red Wings have two games to go against one of the worst teams in the East. If they take care of business -- and get a little help on the way -- they will snap the longest playoff drought in franchise history and the second longest active drought in the NHL. That's all that's at stake over the next few days.
"We need two (points). We need four," Dylan Larkin said after the Red Wings kept their season alive with a 5-4 overtime win Saturday night in Toronto. "We got Montreal and man, that’s dangerous the way they've been going. We’ve been in that position that they’re in and it’s a whole different ballgame than what we’ve been playing, these playoff-style games. We need to show up and have our foot on the gas, and that’s been the attitude."
Larkin was on empty the last time he spoke to the media, Thursday night in Pittsburgh after the Wings wound up on the wrong end of sudden death. He was almost at a loss for words the time before that, Tuesday night in Detroit after the Wings let a golden opportunity slip by against the Capitals. He was somewhere between elated and exhausted this time, a happily weary captain after scoring the game-winner and jumping for joy as his teammates piled on top of him on the glass. He sighed in relief after breathing life into Detroit's playoff hopes.
"Oh, man," said Larkin. "It’s one of the biggest of my career, and I’m hoping this year to have some more big goals. You can’t feel any better. I knew Kaner was going to look for that play and I knew I just had to have my stick on the ice and he was going to hit it. I didn’t even see it go in, but Kaner, all the big moments he’s had in his career, to see how excited he was, to see all the boys rush over -- man, what a feeling."
The losses to start the week are in the rearview. All that matters now is what lies ahead. The Red Wings are even with the Caps for the second wild card spot in the East at 87 points apiece, with Washington holding the tie-breaker with more regulation wins. The Wings cannot catch them in this category. The Penguins and Flyers also remain in the mix, but the path for Detroit is simple: sweep a home-and-home with the Canadiens -- Monday at home, Tuesday on the road -- and hope that the Caps lose in any fashion to either the Bruins or the Flyers.
If that happens, the Red Wings will put their seven-year playoff drought to bed. It already matches a franchise-worst swoon from 1970-71 to 1976-76, and comes directly on the heels of a 25-year playoff streak, one of the longest in NHL history. The last time the Wings made the playoffs, their home was Joe Louis Arena, their captain was Henrik Zetterberg and their leading goal scorer was a 19-year-old rookie named Dylan Larkin.
Now Larkin wears the C, like the emotions on his sleeve. He refused to come off the ice when Toronto's vaunted power play came on late in the third with a chance to win the game and sink the Red Wings' season. He smiled and said he "was breathing through my eyes and just trying to gut it out," especially with Detroit missing two of its top penalty killers in Andrew Copp and Michael Rasmussen. Larkin wasn't letting his team go down like this.
The Wings eventually killed it off, before taking a power play of their own into overtime, where Larkin and Patrick Kane took care of the rest. Larkin's 33rd goal of the season -- in 66 games, no less -- marked a new career high. He played a game-high 24:51, a tour-de-force that typified his nightly impact: 17:46 at even strength, 3:47 short-handed and 3:18 on the power play. He also won 15 of 27 face-offs, right in line with his strong numbers on the season.
"Amazing," Derek Lalonde said of Larkin. "Everything that guy has brought to our group, his will, his mentality, the way he drives, his growth over the last two years as a leader. Again, we keep things private in our room, but that’s a special player, that’s a special kid. And just his battle. The fact that on the penalty kill, he refused to come off, wanted everything, wanted those face-offs, and obviously had enough energy to get us the win in overtime there. Really good on him."
The Red Wings learned some ugly truths about themselves when they lost Larkin to an injury for three weeks in March. In 15 games without him this season (including one against the Senators in which he was knocked out of the game in the first period), they have four wins, a minus-20 goal differential and a .267 points percentage that equates to a 44-point season. With Larkin, the Red Wings are 35-21-9 with a plus-22 goal differential. They have played at a 100-point pace.
Alex DeBrincat scored two long-overdue goals Saturday night, the first assisted by Larkin. Asked amid the Red Wings' seven-game skid last month what kind of impact Larkin's absence has on the team, DeBrincat said, "A huge one. One player doesn’t make a team, but he’s a pretty big player to be missing out on. That extra threat to score a goal or drive the middle and open something up. He’s our best player and he’s our leader and it’s tough not having your captain in the room."
The Red Wings are 4-4-3 since Larkin returned, good enough to stay alive in the struggle for the final playoff spot in the East. Larkin has seven goals and 13 points in those 11 games. His team is "not a perfect team, we're far from it," said Derek Lalonde after Saturday night's win. "We have a lot of flaws. We’re building, it’s where we’re at." They would be nowhere if not for Larkin, who leapt out of his skates after saving the Wings' season like the burden of seven years of losing had been lifted.
They're not where they want to be yet, and they'll need help to get there. As Larkin said himself, "I’m not happy we’re in this position, fighting for our lives." But it beats the sad situations of seasons past, when the Wings were playing the hollow role of spoiler. That will be the Canadiens on Monday and Tuesday night. The Red Wings set out to play meaningful games down the stretch this season, and they don't get any bigger than this.
"The sacrifice, the attitude of the guys has been unbelievable," said Larkin. "We got rewarded tonight for all the hard work we’ve done in the last stretch."
If there are hockey gods in HockeyTown, the Red Wings will get the help they need. If they do win out and don't get in, "you probably have to tip a hat to someone who won their way through," said Lalonde. "They would have beat some really good competition." Indeed, the Capitals will have to take down a Bruins team that's still trying to win its division and a Flyers team that refuses to die. The Wings need two wins over the second-to-last team in the East.
"We just keep battling and hanging in there," said Lalonde. "Narrow our focus. We’ve had some really good starts of late, it will be the same exact mentality. We just need a really good start on Monday versus Montreal."
Which could make for one fulfilling finish.