This Detroit Red Wings team finally feels different

For the first time in a long time, players like Dylan Larkin and Patrick Kane don't have the weight of the world on their shoulders.

The Detroit Red Wings have been here before.

On Feb. 23, 2023 the Red Wings were in a wild card spot, had games in hand on their competition, and won seven of their last 10.

With 25 games to go, the Red Wings controlled their own destiny and they had a chance to end the lengthy playoff drought in Detroit.

And then they met the immovable object on Feb. 25, 2023. Andrei Vasilevskiy came to town with the Tampa Bay Lightning, posted a 45-save shutout in a 3-0 victory in Detroit, and it turned into the catalyst that doomed the Red Wings season.

Vasilevskiy didn’t just beat the Red Wings on Feb. 25. A team that had done everything in it’s power to beat him felt broken, and this was evidence that they were still one of the have-nots in the hockey world, and it snowballed into a six-game losing streak.

Detroit plummeted out of the wild card standings, became a seller at the deadline, and Dylan Larkin, after signing a big extension, wept at a press conference because it was overshadowed by one of his best friends, Tyler Bertuzzi, getting traded away. The emotional scars of the rebuild, finally sneaking through publicly from the Red Wings captain.

If the Red Wings were going to falter this season, if they were going to break, it was likely going to happen last night against the Colorado Avalanche.

Instead of the immovable object, they met the unstoppable force. Nathan MacKinnon came to town, Detroit did everything to contain one of the best players in the world, but for long stretches it looked like it wasn’t going to be enough, Colorado still led 1-0 midway through the third period.

The Red Wings were essentially brought back to the cliff that Vasilevskiy had pushed them down. And instead of folding, they found a way to win 2-1 in overtime.

Larkin scored on the power play in regulation, and then in overtime he setup the game-winning goal for Patrick Kane, with a picturesque drop pass on the cycle for a game-winning blast.

It was a regular season game in February, sure. But it felt like something more, there was a buzz in the arena, these Red Wings, this group, it feels different.

With 26 games to play the Red Wings currently hold the first wild card spot, they have a six-point cushion above the playoff cutline. The Red Wings have games in hand on their closest wild card competitor, fittingly Tampa Bay, and based on points percentage they are the sixth-best team in the Eastern Conference.

Now this is a better roster, Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde freely admits that last season his team was playing with an “AHL plus” roster that was overachieving.

Detroit is one of the most well-rounded offensive teams in the league. The Red Wings lead the league with a dozen double-digit goal scorers after Kane scored his 10th of the season in overtime.

It’s been emotionally freeing for the two biggest names, the ones that combined for the game-winning goal.

When Kane signed with Detroit, fresh off his hip surgery, he took the time to find the right spot. He didn’t rush and wanted the ideal fit, not just from a hockey perspective, but from a lifestyle and pressure perspective.

Kane, since he was the first overall pick in 2007, has been the center of attention for 16 years. Even during his final spell with the Chicago Blackhawks, and the injury-riddled stint with the New York Rangers, he had the pressure to live up to his showtime moniker.

In Detroit, for the first time in his life, Kane wasn’t asked to bear the weight of the hockey world. He was allowed to be a complementary piece, part of the tapestry, rather than the franchise savior.

Kane mentioned that on Thursday after the game, about how the Red Wings top brass, Lalonde and Steve Yzerman, pitched this philosophy to him during his recruitment. Detroit didn’t need a savior, it simply needed a goal scorer to find the net in big moments.

For Larkin, the weight of the rebuild and the tumble at the end of last season have worn on him. Larkin is somehow older and younger than we remember at the same time. He’s been aged by the years in the hockey desert, the only remaining member of the last Red Wings playoff team, but also only 27 and one of the quickest skaters in the league. One of the few No. 1 centers that, speed wise, can actually go stride for stride with MacKinnon, like he did last night.

Between the lessons from last season and the added depth this season, Larkin’s game has taken another step. He’s potentially flirting with a 40-goal season for the first time in his career, and he’s been better building shifts for others and then allowing them to build momentum for him.

The weight of the “C” in Detroit is a heavy one and comes with unrealistic expectations.

Larkin is just the fourth person to wear the letter for the Red Wings since 1986. Amongst the prior three, two are in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and the third just happens to be a member of the Triple Gold Club and was the playoff MVP last time Detroit won the Stanley Cup.

Other than Sidney Crosby with the Pittsburgh Penguins, no other current NHL captain has had to follow up that type of immediate legacy. And Larkin was asked to do so during a rebuild. He was essentially told he would wear the scars and handle the challenges of a franchise that would have to deal with the repercussions of putting a playoff streak over actual playoff results.

Larkin wore that, he came to podiums after tough losses. For four straight years he’s been the one at the end of the season who speaks first, the one who has to explain where it all went wrong and whether Hockeytown would ever be Hockeytown again.

And on Thursday night Larkin was called to the podium after a difficult game, and he was able to smile.

He held court with the media for nearly a dozen minutes with Kane. I believe it was the longest player post-game availability of the season. Partially because the abnormal size of the media contingent, partially because Larkin and Kane enjoyed being there, talking about a team that has allowed both of them to lessen the burden they’ve been used to.

There are still 26 games, we saw what happened last season. No one is forgetting that.

But this season it’s not Larkin’s job to make sure they don’t tumble. It’s not on one player or unit. For the Red Wings captain, on the ice, he’s at peace and happy with that. So is Kane.

For Detroit this feels different.