- Red Wings fans booed Dylan Larkin from his first shift in his season debut
- The crowd changed its tune once he scored against the Senators
- Read below for the video of the boos, the goal and the reaction
Dylan Larkin heard it from Red Wings fans right away on Tuesday night.
The center was booed the moment he stepped on the ice against the Ottawa Senators at Little Caesars Arena, and it got louder every time he touched the puck. Barely 13 minutes into the game, he scored, and a lot of those same fans got up and cheered.
Take a look at the reception Larkin got early in the game:
Larkin had missed the entire preseason and Detroit’s first two games with an upper-body injury. Tuesday was his first game since asking out of Detroit back in June, and the team stripped him of the captaincy in September.
Fans had already let him have it once. He was booed during the home opener introductions while sitting out as a scratch, and head coach Todd McLellan said afterward that he felt bad for him.
Things flipped at 13:14 of the first period. Larkin finished off a play from Viktor Arvidsson and Alex DeBrincat to give the Red Wings a 2-1 lead, and the building responded.
Watch the goal and the crowd reaction:
Even more cheers came when the public address announcer read his name for the goal:
He wasn’t done there, either. Larkin also picked up an assist on Arvidsson’s power-play goal early in the second period, skating on the top line between Arvidsson and Lucas Raymond.
Moritz Seider was asked before the game how the room would handle another round of boos. The defenseman told 97.1 The Ticket the team was ready for it.
“It’s never something you want to hear, but as I’ve said, this is their opportunity to express their feelings and however they feel, they’re gonna make them known,” Seider said.
Detroit’s bigger problem hasn’t moved. The team still hasn’t replaced Steve Yzerman as general manager, with Shawn Horcoff serving as interim GM since mid-September. The front office also has an unsigned Simon Edvinsson asking for a trade on its plate.
Last season, Larkin had 34 goals and 67 points in 74 games. He entered Tuesday with 276 goals and 643 points across 808 games, all with the Red Wings. Whatever happens with the trade request, he gave the crowd a reason to cheer him in game one.
