The Detroit Red Wings move onto their next game encouraged by having scored plenty — and wondering if they’ll have their captain in the lineup.
Larkin was ejected from Thursday’s season opener after retaliating against Tampa Bay Lightning forward Mathieu Joseph, who hit Larkin in a vulnerable spot.
That and the 7-6 overtime loss detracted from an entertaining performance before a Little Caesars Arena crowd that clearly had missed the Wings as much as they missed having fans in the building.
“That’s what we were talking about between periods, how loud it was,” Tyler Bertuzzi said. “The atmosphere was crazy. It’s good to have them back.”
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It was good for the Wings to have Bertuzzi back; he hadn’t played since leaving a Jan. 30 game with back pain, and roared back with four goals Thursday.
“He brings tons of energy,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “He does a ton of good things. It was great for him to be back. It’s got to give him lots of confidence.”
Larkin was playing his first game since April 20, after he suffered an injury when Jamie Benn shoved his stick into Larkin’s neck. He spent time in hospital and had to wear a neck brace. So Larkin was miffed when Joseph hit him in the neck/shoulder area, and retaliated by throwing a punch at Joseph’s head that earned an ejection.
“Dylan was playing good,” Blashill said. “You certainly wish he would stay in the game.
“Dylan is coming off what he’s coming off with the injury, and he gets hit from behind into the boards so he’s going to be upset. At best, I thought they were probably both two-minute penalties. But that’s the way they called it.”
The NHL automatically reviews match penalties to determine if further disciplinary action is warranted. Joseph went to the dressing room, but returned to the ice.
Blashill shared his opinion on that: “A punch with a glove on? Maybe I’m old-school. I don’t think I am. There’s lots of punches without gloves on. I think it’s way different if a guy hits a guy with his glove off than with his glove on.
“I’d be surprised, but I’m not the NHL.”
Bertuzzi called it a “tough play.”
“The league will look at it,” Bertuzzi said. “He’s a big part of this team, and we missed him.
“It was good to see that all lines were going, all were contributing. We were very close. It’s good to come away with a point.”
The Wings host the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. That means there’s one day to move past the disappointment of blowing a 6-3 third-period lead and focus on what the Wings did well: Score and get solid performances from rookies Moritz Seider (two assists) and Lucas Raymond (one assist).
“They played great,” Bertuzzi said. “They’re good little players. I love playing with Raymond and Seider is really good back there. I’m happy they got their first point out of the way, not they can just play hockey and have fun.”
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.