MONTREAL — Dylan Larkin sat down on a Delta regional jet Sunday for a short flight to Montreal and his latest chance to throw on that sharp, dark blue USA sweater.
A game against Finland was still four days away, but the Detroit Red Wings captain couldn’t help but look ahead to next Saturday night.
“Team Canada. Bell Centre. Saturday night,” Larkin said, shaking his head. “Can’t wait. Gives ya goosebumps.”
Sitting in Seat 2A, Larkin told a story about the first time he ever played at the Bell Centre against Canada. It was New Year’s Eve 2014 in the 2015 World Junior Championship, where he shared the tournament lead with five goals.
“But we skated out before the game against Canada, and it was just a sea of red,” Larkin recalled. “It was my first time playing in a sold-out NHL building, and I’ll never forget that. It was very intimidating at the time. But I think now that I’ve got some experience playing in front of a big crowd, it won’t be as intimidating.”
Yeah, Larkin, 10 years older, sure wasn’t intimidated Saturday night. One of the NHL’s fastest skaters took Matt Boldy’s quick up after a Sidney Crosby turnover, blazed up the ice and scored a tie-breaking, second-period goal that turned out to be the winner in a 3-1 win over Canada — the United States’ first in a best-on-best tournament against Canada since Feb. 21, 2010 — the prelims of the Vancouver Olympics — to clinch a berth in Thursday night’s 4 Nations Face-Off final at TD Garden in Boston.
The game started with a bang with three fights in the first nine seconds, including Matthew and Brady Tkachuk challenging Brandon Hagel and Sam Bennett, respectively, before J.T. Miller dropped the gloves with Colton Parayko.
It was incredible theater.
“That was one of the best experiences of my life,” Larkin, 28, said. “Just an unbelievable hockey game. The Tkachuk brothers and Millsy, what a start, and credit to those guys for answering the bell. And the crowd, just a great night for our sport and a great night for this rivalry. So can’t wait to get back to Boston and get on home soil.”
BRANDON HAGEL AND MATTHEW TKACHUK DROP GLOVES AT PUCK DROP 😱
— ESPN (@espn) February 16, 2025
One player who’s never intimidated by any stage he’s on is Jake Guentzel. The Tampa Bay Lightning scorer from Woodbury, Minn., burst onto the scene during the 2016-17 season for Mike Sullivan’s Pittsburgh Penguins and set single-postseason NHL records for goals and points by an American rookie. He’s a two-time 40-goal scorer who has topped 20 goals eight times, and he scored the tying goal and added an empty-netter assisted by Larkin to now lead the tournament with three goals playing on a line with Auston Matthews and Jack Hughes.
“Jake is a high-stakes player,” said Sullivan, who coaches Team USA. “He plays his very best when it means the most and I don’t think there’s a stage big enough for him. He thrives in these types of environments.”
After Connor McDavid’s first-period goal, Guentzel tied the score 26 seconds after Charlie McAvoy, who played a sensational game, levied a monstrous hit on an unsuspecting McDavid.
Larkin said that check had the same effect on the USA bench as the three fights in the first nine seconds.
“To not back down on the best player in the world, that sent a message for our team,” Larkin said.
Larkin was so proud of the way his team played. The physicality; the staying on top of Canada’s superstar players. Guys like Jaccob Slavin over and over defending McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon into hitting the brakes on offensive rushes. The way McAvoy used his great stick and heavy body to make life miserable for Canadians, including his Bruins teammate, Brad Marchand. The way Brock Faber settled down from a tough 4 Nations debut against Finland to be so good that he was thrown onto the ice while defending an extra attacker and a 2-1 lead.
How USA beat Canada to clinch berth in 4 Nations final: Takeaways
“You could tell they were getting frustrated,” Larkin said.
Larkin hit the post earlier in the game and told himself next time he gets a chance he’s shooting the puck and getting it on net. He did just that, letting one rip on a quick transition that beat Jordan Binnington.
What are the chances, but when Larkin celebrated, he looked up into the corner of the lower bowl and spotted his entire family, especially his father, Kevin.
“I got to see my dad jump up. Honestly. Just probably one of the more special goals of my career,” Larkin said.
How’d he see him?
“Well, he’s got the whitest hair, so it was a pretty special moment,” Larkin said.
Larkin loved how the Tkachuks and Miller dragged the Americans into the fight.
He didn’t know the fights were going to come, but when he saw Matthew Tkachuk fight Hagel two seconds into the game, he knew Brady Tkachuk would be next.
He was — a second later.
“I was like, ‘Oh, there’s no way that Brady doesn’t get in the action here. There’s just no way,’” Larkin said. “I was the next shift after it. And I think our line went over and it was like, ‘All right, let’s play some hockey here. Let’s get this game going.’ I think it honestly almost kind of calmed it down, and then the speed of the game, the skill … the game, took off.
“Sitting on the bench, you almost have a little tingle, like, it’s just such a great hockey game.”
The United States, a roster put together by former USA Hockey star Bill Guerin, is deep and balanced. They’re fast, they’re skilled, they’re big and physical. And they have the best three goaltenders, arguably, in the tournament on one roster.
But they have so many big game players — guys like Guentzel, who does nothing but win and score. Larkin, in his 10th season, envies that because he hasn’t made the playoffs since his rookie year in Detroit.
“There’s no moment too big for him,” Larkin said. “I never played with him before this tournament, and to get the chance to know him, he’s such a nice guy and a humble guy and such a great player. He gets talked about as a complementary player, but he’s someone that drives and he goes to the net, he goes to the hard area, he plays the right way. And when he gets the puck on a stick, he’s deadly like he showed the last two games.”
Larkin, the Red Wings’ all-time goal-scoring leader among Americans, is a bona fide star himself.
“He’s a special player,” former Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said via text on Saturday night. “He doesn’t get enough credit for the player he is. He’s a true star. A huge competitor.”
Monday’s game against Sweden is essentially meaningless for the U.S. but means everything for Canada. If the United States beats Sweden and Canada beats Finland, Canada will get the rematch it so wants against the United States in Thursday’s final. But Matthew Tkachuk sat out the last 12 1/2 minutes of Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury, so perhaps the Americans hold him out to allow time to heal for Thursday’s championship game.
Saturday’s win will mean nothing if they don’t win Thursday.
Remember, in 2010, nobody remembers the Americans’ win against Canada in the prelims. They just remember Crosby’s golden goal in overtime in the gold-medal game.
So Larkin and the Americans know they have to finish this thing off.
“Tonight, I was thinking about kids watching that game, and what kind of message that was, like the work ethic, the compete, you know, guys blocking shots,” Larkin said. “I hope kids are watching that like I was as a kid and wanting so badly to put that jersey on in the next generation.
“I knew this one would be special, and then to score the game winner and see the way we played and just the game itself, it was just a great, great atmosphere, great hockey game.
“But we’re still building. That was the message after. The Sweden game’s an important game. Like every team here, they’re dangerous. And we need to just continue to build and build for the championship.”
(Photo: Andre Ringuette / 4NFO / World Cup of Hockey via Getty Images)
