Larkin experiences ‘interesting night’ in return to Red Wings lineup

DETROIT -- When it was over, Dylan Larkin stood in the Detroit Red Wings dressing room and spoke to reporters for about eight minutes, a long time for a postgame interview session. The last question: Did he think he would remember this game, for better or for worse, when looking back on his career?

“Um, yeah, maybe,” he said. “Yeah, it was an interesting night.”

It was a night of raw, mixed emotions.

In his first game since asking the Red Wings for a trade and losing the captaincy, Larkin turned boos into cheers by scoring a goal. He added an assist, then took a roughing penalty for sticking up for a teammate. Later, the boos returned. In the end, he was announced as the first star of a 5-3 win against the Ottawa Senators at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday and received a mix of boos and cheers.

“I’m trying to be a man and face it, and I understand why that’s happening,” Larkin said. “But again, like I said to you guys at the start of the season, I was going to try to show up with my play, and it was nice to be out there with the guys and get a win.”

Larkin has spent his entire NHL career with his hometown team and hasn’t appeared in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since his rookie season of 2015-16. The Red Wings have missed the playoffs the past 10 seasons, the longest drought in their history and the longest active drought in the NHL.

The 30-year-old center asked for a trade after last season while giving Detroit a short list of teams to which he would waive his no-trade clause. He lost the captaincy entering this season.

He reported to training camp but couldn’t participate at first due to an upper-body injury sustained in offseason training. Although he returned to practice, he didn’t play in the preseason or the Red Wings’ first two regular-season games -- a 2-0 loss to the New York Rangers on Friday and a 3-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.

Fans booed when Larkin hopped over the boards for his first shift at 1:51 of the first period Tuesday, and they booed the first time he touched the puck. His first shift ended with center Tim Stutzle scoring on the rush to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 2:44.

Fans continued to boo Larkin each time he touched the puck -- until he banged in a pass from forward Viktor Arvidsson on the power play to give Detroit a 2-1 lead at 13:14 of the first. Suddenly, they cheered, but Larkin was relatively reserved.

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

Larkin did point to his 16-month-old daughter, Lennyn.

“She came last year, but I think she’s more aware of what’s going on and will be able to watch that goal tomorrow,” Larkin said. “That was pretty special.”

Larkin assisted on a power-play goal by Arvidsson that gave Detroit a 3-1 lead at 2:01 of the second period. He battled, going to the net, fighting along the boards, drawing a penalty.

At the end of the period, he went after Ottawa center Ridly Greig for hitting teammate Alex DeBrincat, taking a roughing penalty and sparking a melee. Ottawa forward Nick Cousins touched his jersey, appearing to mock Larkin for losing the “C” on his jersey, but Larkin laughed it off, saying you can only imagine what Cousins said.

“He’s a hockey player,” coach Todd McLellan said. “Once he puts the equipment on, he just goes and plays hockey. Had an impact on the game. I think he played with his heart on his sleeve, which is a real good thing for him. He needed to do that tonight, and he did it.

“I can tell you on the bench his teammates were rallying around him. They believe we’re a better team with him than without him, and the rest of the group was happy for him, so it was a team win, and Dylan did what Dylan needed to do.

“Sometimes you just need to get back to playing hockey. Like, what happened, happened, and all this stuff, it’s enough already. Just go play hockey, and that’s what he did.”

Larkin said it was “just good to be a hockey player again, for sure.”

“For a hockey player, it’s the best medicine,” he said. “It’s just to play and just enjoy it and think about the kid that would be killing to be out there. That’s really for all of us what it’s all about.”

Fans booed Larkin again when he touched the puck a couple of times in the third period, then gave him a mixed reaction when he was announced as the first star after the game. When Larkin returned to the dressing room, his teammates welcomed him.

“It’s meaningful,” Larkin said. “There’s a lot of people in here that I love deeply and mean a lot to me in my career. It’s pretty emotional coming back in.”

On the first day of camp, Larkin talked about earning back his teammates’ trust. Asked if he had built it back up, he seemed unsure. It was only one game. A lot of uncertainty remains.

“I don’t know about trust,” he said. “That thing usually takes time. But I know with a group of guys in hockey, it’s through your actions, not your words.”