MONTREAL – The chants, the reviews, the shootout that went on and on – ultimately what mattered for the Detroit Red Wings was the performance, and the point.
They headed home from their first road excursion, coming 24 hours after a tough loss, with something to hold onto: Going into Bell Centre, arguably the most atmospheric building in the NHL, and holding their own against a team just as eager to move on from a rough start to the 2026-27 season.
"I thought it was a real gutsy effort on our behalf," coach Todd McLellan said after the 1-0 shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, Oct. 10. "Back-to-backs aren't easy, especially early in the year. That team came out real hungry, we had to weather a storm early, played even after that.
It would have been nice to find a way to get one in the shootout, but not a lot of complaints."
It was an unusual night. Fans chanted, "WE WANT LAR-KIN!" in spurts through the first couple periods, a direct message aimed at Dylan Larkin and his summer request to be traded. The 30-year, who is in Year 4 of an eight-year deal, has a no-trade clause, and no Canadian team is on his reported list of exemptions, but Habs fans saw no harm in trying.
The chants certainly reached their mark.
"It was interesting," Larkin said. "I mean, I never would have imagined that in this building and in my career. But they're passionate fans. It's one of the best, the best atmosphere in hockey. They're knowledgeable and they love their team. So that's how I read into it."
Lucas Raymond described hearing the chants this way: "First time for everything, but I mean, you're focused on the game. You don't really hear it."
McLellan admitted that between the Larkin situation and the contract stalemate with defenseman and restricted free agent Simon Edvinsson, "I'd be lying if I said everything going on wasn't a distraction, but we have a responsibility to each other to focus on what we can control and that's what we do."
Asked about potentially going to a Canadian team, Larkin, who is from Waterford and a Michigan alumnus, said: "I'm not going to go there because I'm on this team. We just played against Montreal. Our building's great. We've had some great atmospheres in ours. The guys in here and myself are trying to win hockey games so we can have great moments in Little Caesars Arena."
Larkin's answer is why the Wings (1-3-1) don't want to trade him: Without him in their lineup, they don't have a top-line center. The challenge to be competitive in the Atlantic Division, must less the Eastern Conference (which has produced the past three Stanley Cup champs) is difficult enough as it is.
Saturday at least looked like it was a reset to how the Wings started the season, with a solid effort at both ends of the ice. The power play went 0-for-4, but the penalty kill delivered its best performance of the season, especially while Larkin was cooling his heels in the penalty box midway through the second period. Andrew Copp – mostly without his stick after it broke – and Michael Rasmussen, Moritz Seider and Ben Chiarot did such a good job Daniil Tarasov, who faced 30 shots on the night, only had to turn away one on the disadvantage.
"I think that's something we can rally around in here," Larkin said. "Something like that is an identity penalty kill, where it hadn't been going our way. We can build on that and go back to that when times get tough and face adversity because we proved against a great power play that we can do that."
The performance as a whole was something to rally about, coming the night after their best start of the season was undone in their worst period, with four Seattle Kraken goals in the second frame at LCA on Friday.
"It was very important for us to rebound," McLellan said. "Last night's game was a 10-minute debacle that cost us the night. The other 50 minutes, we were in the game and played well. We addressed it. We focused on a couple things that we thought we had to clean up and I thought we did that tonight."
It was a nothing-nothing game through overtime, but to the ire of fans. They booed officials soundly three times when their Habs' goal celebrations were quelled by reviews: On the first, a lengthy review revealed the puck didn't cross the goal line; on the second, there was goalie interference, and on the third – in overtime, no less – the play was offside.
"Probably first time I've seen it, but, we'll take it," Raymond said. "If it's not a goal, it's not a goal."
Nothing was a goal in the shootout for the first five rounds, in which Raymond, Alex DeBrincat, Viktor Arvidsson, Larkin, Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Nate Danielson all came up empty. (Zachary Bolduc, leading off Round 6, was the only player to score for either team.) McLellan joked assistant coach Alex Tanguay would have been next for the Wings.
It's a little bit disappointing because we have some really good shooters," McLellan said. "We have guys that have been money and for whatever reason we didn't have it tonight. We'll be in a few of these this year. We've got to find a way to get some points."
Contact Helene St. James at Hstjames@freepress.com.
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Next up: Devils
Matchup: Red Wings (1-3-1, 3 points) vs. New Jersey (2-2-0, 4 points).
Faceoff: 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13; Little Caesars Arena, Detroit.
TV/radio: ESPN; WXYT-FM (97.1).
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings ignore noise in Montreal, rediscover penalty kill
