Dylan Larkins scary exit overshadows Red Wings loss to Senators -

DETROIT — The Red Wings lost a lopsided 5-1 game to a division rival Saturday, and it wasn’t remotely the concern of the night.

That’s how scary the scene was as Detroit captain Dylan Larkin lay motionless on the ice, unconscious with his feet facing in opposite directions.

Larkin had been battling for a puck around the Ottawa net when he got caught between two Senators players, first taking a punch to the back of the head from Ottawa forward Mathieu Joseph, then falling forward into another punch from Senators forward Parker Kelly. It knocked him out immediately, bringing the game to a breathless halt as a stretcher was brought out onto the ice.

Larkin eventually regained consciousness and left the ice on his own feet, helped off by teammates Robby Fabbri and Shayne Gostisbehere, but he did not return to the game. The Red Wings had no postgame update beyond that Larkin was being evaluated.

UPDATE: Dylan Larkin continues to be evaluated by Detroit’s medical staff. He will not return to tonight’s game.

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 10, 2023

“Just a tough sight to see,” said Red Wings forward Christian Fischer. “Obviously you never want to see anybody down, especially the leader of your team. That’s a tough one to kind of regroup from.”

Detroit trailed 1-0 at the time and following the play was down to eight forwards for the remainder of the first period. The Red Wings played 11 forwards to begin Saturday, then lost Larkin, David Perron to a match penalty for retaliating with a cross-check against Ottawa’s Artem Zub, and Fabbri to a significant cut.

Even after getting Fabbri back in the second period, they were still short a full forward line. And to the Red Wings’ credit, they did tie the score before the end of the first period, with Patrick Kane scoring his first goal as a Red Wing to even it at 1-1.

But in the second, Ottawa struck three times on goals by Vladimir Tarasenko, Dominik Kubalik and Tim Stützle, putting the game out of reach for a short-handed Detroit bench.

Early in the third period, Fischer fought Joseph in response to the hit on Larkin.

“I think all 21 guys would have done the same thing in our room,” Fischer said. “Obviously wanted to wait a second there, we had nine forwards, there was probably multiple opportunities to do that earlier, but didn’t want to go down to seven forwards. I think it would have been seven forwards at one time. But just, I mean, that’s the captain of our team. Every guy in that locker room would stick up for him, and everyone else.”

After initially calling a five-minute penalty when Larkin went down, the referees reviewed the play and opted to give Joseph and Kelly each minor penalties for roughing, also giving a five-minute major and match penalty to Detroit’s Perron. Fischer expressed some surprise that the Red Wings ended up short-handed for three minutes at the conclusion of the Senators’ penalties, but Detroit coach Derek Lalonde seemed satisfied with the officials’ handling of the situation.

“Considering the circumstances, I thought both refs handled it extremely well, communicated it well, and we moved on from it,” Lalonde said.

Now, however, Larkin’s uncertain status casts a long shadow on the team’s outlook. To this point in the season, the Red Wings have exceeded expectations by putting themselves in a playoff position. The addition of Kane, who has been immediately dangerous following hip resurfacing surgery, has looked like it could be the difference in breaking a seven-year playoff drought.

Losing Larkin for any significant amount of time, though, would be seismic. His 25 points in 24 games are tied for the team lead, and he is the group’s unquestioned top center. Detroit should get second-line center J.T. Compher back from an undisclosed day-to-day injury soon, but Larkin’s role is even greater than the 1C tag indicates. He is their on-ice engine on most nights, and they have no one who could truly replace his impact for an extended period.

Those on-ice concerns, though, pale in comparison to those around Larkin’s health in the big picture. He suffered a significant neck injury after he was cross-checked by Dallas’ Jamie Benn in 2021, and the sight of him motionless on the ice was jarring on a level much deeper than hockey.

“I think it’s scary for everybody in the rink,” Red Wings defenseman Ben Chiarot said. “When you see someone unconscious … (it was) hard to watch, especially when it’s your friend and captain, and scary for his family when you see someone down like that.”

The Red Wings will not practice Sunday, which means an update may not be forthcoming until the team returns to play Monday in Dallas.

(Photo: Brian Bradshaw Sevald / USA Today)

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