Detroit Red Wings rookie Emmitt Finnie scored another goal in Tuesday evening's 4-3 overtime win over the Dallas Stars.
To put it plainly, the Detroit Red Wings are getting far more than they would have ever expected out of rookie forward Emmitt Finnie so far in his rookie campaign.
Finnie, Detroit's seventh-round pick (201st overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft, tallied his ninth goal on Tuesday evening as part of his club's 4-3 overtime win over the Dallas Stars at Little Caesars Arena, their ninth win in December.
Finnie scored a power-play goal in the third period, knotting the score at 2-2.
The Red Wings would eventually need to rally back from a 3-2 deficit, which they did on consecutive goals from Dylan Larkin late in regulation and then in overtime.
Larkin, who has skated alongside Finnie on the club's top line for much of the season, couldn't say enough of the impact that the rookie has had.
“It's unbelievable, I’ve talked about him a lot, and I could talk about him all day if you guys allowed me,” Larkin said of his rookie linemate with a grin. “He's such a great kid, and playing with him the majority of the (year) up until Christmas, he's such a good linemate."
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This February will mark the first time that NHL players have participated in Olympic competition, and Larkin is a major contender to be included on the Team USA roster as he was last February in the Four Nations Face-Off tournament.
Larkin delivered a consequential endorsement of Finnie's style of play, saying that he would try and emulate that if he's ultimately chosen to represent the United States on the international stage.
"If I was able to go to the Olympics and play on the wing, I would probably try to play like Emmitt Finnie," Larkin said. "I’d be a good supporting player who digs out pucks and gets them to guys, and goes to the hard areas. He's a special player, and a special guy.”
"It's a great story."
Head coach Todd McLellan, who has been on the job in Detroit for exactly 363 days now, confirmed that Finnie has exceeded all expectations that the club could have had for him coming into the season.
"I'd be flat out lying to you if I said, 'Hey, we put his name on the board, and we popped him into the lineup right there and never thought twice about playing him against the League's best,'" McLellan explained. "But as Dylan said, he's earned a seat at the table with his teammates and the coaching staff....just the way he carries himself. He's done a real good job."
Finnie's nine goals are ranked third-most in the NHL among rookie players, trailing only Montreal Canadiens forward Oliver Kapanen and Anaheim Ducks forward Beckett Sennecke, who both have 11 goals each.
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