Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin delivered a clutch performance for his club on Thursday evening against the Philadelphia Flyers with his third career hat trick.
Following their 4-3 shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin looked as despondent as he'd ever been, knowing that a critical opportunity had slipped away.
On Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers, he channeled that energy into one of his best performances of his career.
Larkin registered his third-career hat trick as part of Detroit's 6-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday. It helped keep the Red Wings alive in the postseason chase, though they will still essentially need to win out while hoping the Ottawa Senators begin losing.
It was the kind of performance that can help will a team to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and even with a minute chance, the Red Wings aren't surrendering with Larkin leading the way.
"He's our leader, we believe in him," said Moritz Seider, who has been teammates with Larkin since his rookie campaign of 2021-22. "We don't really care what you guys say about us, and outside of this locker room. We always trust him.
He's an important player, and he definitely put us on his back tonight, and we need that three more times. We're a better team with him in the lineup than without."
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However, rather than talk about his third-career hat trick, Larkin said that the win was what was most important.
"The win feels better," Larkin said. "The way we played in the third, the way the guys laid out their desperate penalty killing, just a total team effort. That was a big kill, the 5-on-3. Simon makes a heck of a play in the corner with his long stick, and then Albert makes a great play...I was able to cash in there, and that felt pretty good."
Larkin scored on a partial breakaway seconds after stepping out of the penalty box after taking a pass from defenseman Albert Johanson. He gave an exuberant fist pump and then gestured, "Let's go!" to the cheering crowd.
"Sometimes I express a little emotion, but I think it was good to show emotion for our guys," Larkin said. "We're going to keep fighting for our lives."
“Naturally, everybody wants to make the playoffs, and he’s a big part of us trying to get there,” head coach Todd McLellan said. “And it's a bit of a relief for him, it's been a while since that's happened for him."
Larkin’s most recent hat trick came in April 2023 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He missed multiple games this season after returning from the Olympic break and is still clearly not at 100 percent, but continues to gut it out in hopes of helping the team reach a place it hasn’t been since 2016.
"When he's pushing through some of what he's going through, and you can't score, there are other ways you can help the team," McLellan said. "We've been trying to angle towards that a little bit. Tonight, he broke out offensively, which was a good thing."
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