Dylan Larkin started his 2026-27 season with a bang. But two milestones made his season debut even more impressive.
Scoring a goal, landing two points, and ending the night as the game’s First Star made for a memorable season debut. So did passing up three Detroit Red Wings legends in a single night.
Per Dave Hogg of NHL.com, “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).”
Fedorov, Delvecchio, and Lidstrom are among some of the biggest names in NHL history, let alone Red Wings history. For Larkin to pass them during an evening when the hometown crowd continued showing their displeasure early on made his season debut even sweeter.
Whether he’s still with the Red Wings come Oct. 2027 is a mystery. But if he’s still wearing a Winged Wheel, he can tie Yzerman if he posts one more point in a season debut — putting him right there with another franchise great.
Dylan Larkin Did More Than Pass 3 Red Wings Legends
Larkin also has an incredible streak going: he scored a point in his past six season debuts. Larkin was last shut out in 2020-21 during a 3-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
On Oct. 14, 2021, the streak started when Larkin potted a goal in a thriller against the Tampa Bay Lightning that ended in a 7-6 overtime loss. Exactly one year later, Larkin added an assist as Detroit shut out the Montreal Canadiens.
In Oct. 2023, Larkin added another assist in a 4-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils. Yet another helper came in 2024-25 in a loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Detroit lost again when Larkin kicked off his 2025-26 campaign, but he scored the Red Wings’ only goal that evening.
Larkin’s Performance On Tuesday Went Beyond The Numbers
Here was the reality of Detroit’s situation: the Red Wings scored two goals in six periods in losses to the New York Rangers and Winnipeg Jets. In comes Larkin, who has become one of the least popular players in Detroit sports thanks to his trade request going public last summer.
He steps in, plays for over 20 minutes, scores a goal and two points, lands four shots, and wins 64.7 percent of his faceoffs. That’s creating an impact amidst the circumstances.
Head coach Todd McLellan put it into perspective. Via Jonathan Mills of the Red Wings team site, McLellan said, “He’s (Larkin) a hockey player. Once he puts the equipment on, he just goes and plays hockey. Had an impact on the game. I think he played with his heart on his sleeve, which is a real good thing for him. He needed to do that tonight, and he did it.”
Larkin and the Red Wings get two days off before they carry their momentum into Friday night’s matchup with the Seattle Kraken. If Larkin makes a similar impact against Seattle, everything surrounding him could start getting very, very interesting.
Dylan Larkin Continued Impressive Red Wings Early-Season Trend In Win