Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin scored both the game-tying and game-winning goals in a 2-1 overtime victory against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night at Canadian Tire Centre. This was the first game for both teams following the NHL’s Olympic break.
“It’s great to get this one,” said Larkin, who achieved his 13th career NHL overtime goal, surpassing Sergei Fedorov for the most in franchise history. “Man, what a performance by John Gibson — picking up where he left off for us. We just hung in there. We weren’t the sharpest in the first, but our game grew as it went on…Tough to do in this building, weathered the storm and got two huge points.”
John Gibson made 26 saves for Detroit (34-19-6; 74 points), while Linus Ullmark stopped 18 shots for Ottawa (28-22-8; 64 points). Detroit Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan commented on his team’s start after returning from the break: “After the first two shifts, we were processing the game and reacting slowly. Not a lot of execution. I guess the part we liked is we stuck with it in the second and third, and found a way to win.”
Gibson returned to action after missing 22 days and made several key saves early in the match, including a stick save on Dylan Cozens less than five minutes into play. A goal by Michael Rasmussen was overturned due to an offside challenge from Ottawa before Brady Tkachuk scored on a power play at 18:44 of the first period.
“I just try to play my game and focus on that,” Gibson said. “If I sat here and told you that I could draw it all up, I’d be lying to you. You can’t control the bounces and all that, so I’m just trying to keep the puck out of the net and give us a chance.”
Detroit’s Olympians—Larkin, Lucas Raymond, and Moritz Seider—combined for a power-play goal that tied it at 1-1 early in the second period. Seider set up Raymond along the boards before Raymond passed across to Larkin for a one-timer.
“I think [the power play] woke us up a little bit,” Larkin said after scoring his 27th goal of the season. “Just hounding pucks, and we slowly started to tilt the ice. We hung onto pucks down low. I thought we probably had some more O-zone time than we had in a long time.”
Physical play increased during the second period following an altercation between Edvinsson and Cozens after Tkachuk collided with Edvinsson earlier in that sequence.
“He’d probably tell you that wasn’t his best game tonight,” McLellan said about Edvinsson’s return from injury before Olympic break. “He’s been out for a month-and-a-half, so he’s going to have to find it. But he has such a huge impact when he’s in, and even a bigger impact when he’s out.”
Both teams failed to score during regulation’s third period, sending them into overtime tied at one apiece. Less than two minutes into overtime, Raymond assisted Larkin on a breakaway which led to Larkin scoring his second goal of the night.
“I felt good tonight,” Larkin said regarding his return from international duty at Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics where he won gold with Team USA. “It’s a lot different than a big gold-medal game against Canada, but that goal is huge for our team. It’s been so great being back with the guys and they’ve been so great to me since I’ve been back. To score that one tonight, it’s up there. It feels pretty special.”
The Red Wings are scheduled to continue their road trip against Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center on Saturday night.
McLellan discussed how important goaltending was during this divisional matchup: “To keep that team off the board your goaltender has to do a real good job, and Gibby did that…To find the winner in overtime for the extra point, at this time of year those are huge. We’ll take the game. We know we got work to do obviously and we’ll move on.”
On Edvinsson rejoining Detroit’s lineup after injury absence Larkin added: “He’s such a factor for us. He’s such a big-game player It’s nice having him back He stood up for himself They just collided and he answered the bell and good on him.”
Gibson reflected positively on Detroit’s effort: “It was good You want to get back and start on right note and I thought we did that tonight battled whole game They’re good team tough building play big win.”
The Detroit Red Wings represent Detroit, Michigan as one of six original National Hockey League franchises established in 1926 according to their official website. The team has captured eleven Stanley Cup titles—the most among American-based NHL franchises—and continues its tradition of hosting home games downtown in Detroit.
