Larkin scores in season debut, Red Wings edge Senators for first win

DETROIT -- Dylan Larkin had a goal and an assist in his season debut to help the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-3 win against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.

It was a successful return for Larkin after a tumultuous offseason. Larkin asked for a trade away from Detroit, announced that he would no longer be the team's captain, then sustained an upper-body injury days before the start of training camp.

“It was good to be out there playing hockey again,” he said. “This was a great team win. We needed to get one for the team, the organization and the Red Wings fans.”

He was loudly booed during his first shifts, but that changed when the Red Wings (1-2-0) started scoring.

“I knew that was going to happen and I understand that’s happening,” Larkin said. “I just want to go out there and help win games with my play.”

Alex DeBrincat had two goals and an assist for Detroit, Viktor Arvidsson and Justin Faulk each had a goal and an assist, and Lucas Raymond had three assists for Detroit. John Gibson made 22 saves.

“I thought we were a lot heavier and harder than we were in our first two games,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said. “We had a lot of contributions from a lot of guys in different ways.”

Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson and William Eklund each had a goal and an assist for Ottawa (2-1-0), which was coming off a 4-1 win at the Boston Bruins on Monday. Samuel Ersson made 31 saves.

“I thought we looked a little tired, but there are going to be games where you are tired in this League,” Ottawa coach Travis Green said.

Stutzle gave the Senators a 1-0 lead at 2:44 of the first period. He picked the puck up in his end of the ice, beat Axel Sandin-Pellikka and used Ben Chiarot as a screen for a snap shot past Gibson’s blocker.

Detroit only needed 32 seconds for DeBrincat to make it 1-1, beating Ersson from the bottom of the left face-off circle thanks to Nate Danielson’s pass from the right side of the crease at 3:16.

Larkin gave Detroit its first lead of the season at 13:14. DeBrincat’s pass found Arvidsson down low, and he flicked the puck to Larkin alone at the top of the crease to make it 2-1.

Arvidsson then made it 3-1 with a power-play goal at 2:01 of the second period, snapping in the rebound of Larkin’s initial shot, and then Faulk broke through the Ottawa defense thanks to a stretch pass from William Wallinder with a wrist shot from the high slot to put Detroit up 4-1 at 4:30.

“We didn’t really play for the first 25 or 27 minutes of the game,” Senators captain Thomas Chabot said. “In this League, no matter who you play, if you don’t show up right at the start, you aren’t going to win. We took some not-so-great penalties and gave them momentum.”

Batherson cut it to 4-2 at 6:08 on the power play. He got a pass from Eklund at the left post and put it up and over the stick of Gibson with an off-speed wrist shot.

Eklund scored from a tough angle, getting the rebound of Fabian Zetterlund's shot off the end boards and putting it past Gibson to make it 4-3 at 10:30 of the third period.

“We are a very good team when we play our game,” Eklund said. “We did that in the second half of the game, but it was too late.”

DeBrincat put one into the empty net on the power play for the 5-3 final at 19:10.

“I liked that we didn’t panic when they got back into the game,” McLellan said. “We did our job and held our ground.”

NOTES: Larkin has recorded a point in his first game of a campaign for the 11th time in his career, which passed Sergei Fedorov, Alex Delvecchio and Nicklas Lidstrom (all 10 times) for the third most in Red Wings history. He trails Gordie Howe (18) and Steve Yzerman (12). … Stutzle had five points (three goals, two assists) in Ottawa’s back-to-back games. He joins Brady Tkachuk (Oct. 14-15, 2023) and Dany Heatley (Dec. 12-13, 2007) as the third Senators player to record multiple goals in consecutive days. … Raymond carries an eight-game point streak against Ottawa dating to Jan. 7, 2025. It is his second-longest active run versus an opponent (12 games vs. Buffalo Sabres). … Ridly Greig had an assist in his return after serving a two-game, regular-season suspension for his actions in Ottawa's loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. … Wallinder and fellow Red Wings rookie Carter Mazur each recorded their first NHL point with an assist.