Captain Dylan Larkin powers Detroit to a come-from-behind 3–2 shootout win in Edmonton to start the Red Wings' road swing in style
Thursday night in Edmonton, the Detroit Red Wings overturned a 2–0 first period deficit en route to a 3–2 shootout victory over the Oilers. Despite the slow start, the Red Wings got the two points they sought from the first night of their four-game Western road swing, thanks in large part due to the efforts of captain Dylan Larkin.
After conceding twice in the first, Detroit rallied to tie the game in the second with goals from Michael Rasmussen then Larkin. "We came in the room down two, and we knew we had better, and we knew we'd get our legs going from the travel day yesterday, and we did just that," the Red Wings captain told reporters after the game. "From the second and third on, we played a pretty solid road hockey game, and [Alex Lyon] was unbelievable for us." Lyon was busy all night, finishing the evening with 45 saves on 47 shots and earning first star honors for his troubles.
"We didn't flat out have enough players going [in the first]," assessed coach Todd McLellan. "That was the conversation in between periods. We had 10 or 12 players that were giving us what we needed, and we had passengers. The challenge was to find three or four more in the second period. Didn't know who was gonna step up, where it was gonna come from."
Besides Lyon, Larkin was, without question, the biggest driver of the comeback. He finished the night just north of 25 minutes played, won a whopping 24 face-offs, and chipped in the equalizing goal in the second. After a scoreless third period and overtime, Larkin also scored the shootout winner, beating Stuart Skinner with a clean wrist shot.
"That's a captain's night," said McLellan, of Larkin's effort. "That's a leadership night. You thkn about how taxing that is to go up against Leon and some of their other big centers I think 36, 37 times in the face-off circle. That alone can wear an individual out. And then to check against those top end guys as well as create offense, hell of a night."
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