Seider’s Hustle, Larkin’s Finish Fuel Another OT Win for Red-Hot Wings
When Moritz Seider is on the ice, you better keep your head on a swivel-just ask Easton Cowan. In a flash, Seider picked Cowan’s pocket and turned defense into instant offense, springing Dylan Larkin on a breakaway that ended with the captain burying his 25th goal of the season. Just 3:07 into overtime, Larkin slipped the puck past Joseph Woll and delivered yet another clutch win for the surging Red Wings.
“That’s diesel right there,” Larkin said postgame, smiling as he praised Seider’s relentless effort. “He’s got a diesel engine.
He chases us like that in practice all the time. I knew when he started chasing Cowan that he was going to get the puck-he’s been doing that since training camp.
Every day, really.”
It was a textbook example of what makes this Detroit team so dangerous in sudden death: high-end skill, relentless work ethic, and a growing sense of belief.
Larkin admitted he wanted to return the favor to Seider on the play but ran out of room. “I would have liked to go back to him, rewarding him for all the hard work, but I ran out of real estate,” he said.
With the win, the Wings improve to 31-16-4 on the season and now boast an 8-2 record in overtime. That’s no accident. It’s a reflection of chemistry, confidence, and smart coaching.
“Maybe confidence, good legs, chemistry,” Larkin said when asked about the overtime success. “It’s pretty dangerous three combinations and it seems to be working. We have good chemistry between the pairs.”
That chemistry doesn’t happen by chance. Larkin pointed to the culture shift brought in by head coach Todd McLellan and assistant Trent Yawney as a key driver of the team’s mindset.
“There’s maybe a shift in mentality,” he said. “Our team is pushing for more and maybe not even satisfied with where we’re at. That’s Todd and Yawns coming in and creating that environment of pushing and pushing, and we’ve responded well to it.”
While the overtime heroics grabbed the spotlight, the Wings don’t get there without another rock-solid performance from goaltender John Gibson. He turned aside 28 shots, including a massive 14-save effort in a second period that tested Detroit’s resolve.
“Just more of the same-we’ve seen it for two months now,” McLellan said of Gibson’s form. “They gained a lot of momentum on those two penalty kills in the second period.
They had nine shots on goal, and he was really busy. We had trouble winning a draw, trouble clearing, broke a stick-just anything that could go wrong did.”
But Gibson stood tall, as he has so often during this hot stretch. He’s now won seven straight starts and 16 of his last 18 decisions, anchoring a team that’s finding ways to win in all kinds of situations.
And credit where it’s due-Joseph Woll was no slouch in net either. He made 39 saves and gave his team every chance to steal one. But on this night, it was the Wings’ relentless pursuit-embodied by Seider’s hustle and Larkin’s finish-that made the difference.
This is a team that isn’t just winning games-they’re building something. And if they keep this up, the rest of the league will have to take notice.