MONTREAL – A marathon evening at Bell Centre had fans chanting for Dylan Larkin to join their team, and thwarted for would-be goal celebrations three times.
'We want Lar-kin!" they intoned, on and off, as the Detroit Red Wings faced the Montreal Canadiens for the first time this season, on Saturday, Oct. 10. It was the Wings' second game in two days, their first of the season on the road, against a team that, like the Wings, had only won once in its first four outings.
For the Wings, that still holds, but at least they got a point, falling, 1-0 after a shootout that lasted six rounds.
The game took nearly three hours and was a memorable one. Daniil Tarasov looked
good in net in his first start of the season for the Wings (1-3-1), coming through when teammates turned the puck over and got caught in their own zone for stretches. But it wasn't a tilted arena: The Wings tested Jacob Fowler, too, including on an Andrew Copp breakaway early in the third period.
Alexandre Texier shot short-side high with 2:23 left in overtime, but officials ruled play was offside, the third time fans celebrated a goal only to be told otherwise by officials.
Who played
The Wings went back to using 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Larkin started with Viktor Arvidsson and Lucas Raymond, Emmitt Finnie with Alex DeBrincat and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, Andrew Copp with Michael Rasmussen and Keegan Kolesar, and Nate Danielson and Sheldon Dries paired up with various wingers. On defense, Moritz Seider paired with Albert Johansson, Ben Chiarot with Justin Faulk, and Anton Johansson, Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Andreas Englund were also in the mix.
'We want Lar-kin!'
The loudest section was to the right of Detroit's end of the ice, and gave voice to the desire to see Larkin, who at the end of last season requested a trade, skate for the most storied of the Original Six franchises. Larkin has expanded his original three-team list (the Minnesota Wild – though that might depend on whether the Wild can re-sign Quinn Hughes; Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights) to include the Dallas Stars and other teams, but no Canadian teams.
But regardless, the Wings do not want to trade Larkin, and aren't obligated to do so as he is in year four of an eight-year deal that has an $8.7 million annual average value. So far teams have offered prospects/picks - nothing resembling the value Larkin has to the Wings, as he's their top center and a regular 30-goal scorer.
Finding their legs
The Wings were playing the night after a lazy second period resulted in a 6-3 loss at home to the Seattle Kraken, while the Habs came in fresh. That showed in the first period, especially early on. Cole Caufield and his teammates celebrated as if they'd put the Habs up a minute into the game, but after a lengthy, Situation Room-driven review, it was determined that that the puck did not cross the Detroit goal line.
The Wings had trouble getting out of their zone and relied heavily on Tarasov until consecutive power plays, overlapping by 27 seconds, sparked some momentum starting around the 13-minute mark. After being outshot, 9-2, through 13 minutes, the Wings finished the period with an 11-9 advantage.
No goal, again
Fans again thought they were cheering a goal, by Zachary Bolduc seven minutes into the second period, but officials immediately signaled no goal because Jake Evans had interfered with Tarasov.
Huge penalty kill
The Wings killed off a holding call on Anton Johansson at 9:49 of the second period, their second of the game. They'd barely recovered from that when Larkin was called for tripping, at 12:38. That two-minute stretch was a heroic effort led by Copp, whose stick broke early on; Rasmussen, Seider and Chiarot, who disrupted passing attempts and blocked shooting attempts to the point Tarasov only had to make one save, on a slap shot by Juraj Slafkovsky.
Next up for the Red Wings: Be Deviled at the LCA
After their torturous one-game, one-city road trip, the Red Wings return home for a three-game homestand, opening with a visit from the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, Oct. 13 (6 p.m., ESPN). It’ll be a bit of a homecoming for a pair of Devils stars, as forward Jack Hughes and defenseman Luke Hughes – who spent their high school years in Canton – return to Michigan. Both had helpers as the Devils hung four goals on the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday afternoon to even their record at 2-2-0.
Contact Helene St. James at Hstjames@freepress.com. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings rediscover defense in SO loss to Canadiens
