Dylan Larkin is headed toward his fifth consecutive 30-plus goal season. With 26 goals and 25 assists, he has been involved in 29.6% of Detroit Red Wings goals. If you break it down to five-on-five goals, his percentage climbs to almost 36%.
If Larkin isn't producing, the Red Wings offense often goes quiet.
That's why it's a fascinating curiosity for Red Wings fans to see their captain exalted with no goals in his first three games of the Olympic tournament. He is earning rave reviews for his work as USA's No. 3 center. When the Americans were holding onto a lead in their third game against Denmark, Larkin played more than any other American forward in the third period. He's been America's best role player. Detroit fans just don't really ever consider how good Larkin is defensively because he is so valuable offensively.
"He can skate, defend well and win faceoffs,". USA coach Mike Sullivan said. "He can play against anybody because of his ability to contribute on both he puck."
His faceoff work has been otherworldly: In three games, he is 19-5 (79.6%) in the faceoff circle.
Earlier in the season, Larkin said if he found himself in a checking role at the Olympics he would want to play with the energy of Detroit rookie Emmitt Finnie. He wanted to match Finnie's ability to be "a good supporting player and someone that digs pucks and gets them to guys and goes to the hard areas.”
While Larkin clearly likes where the Americans are at, he probably doesn't like that he will faceoff today against Detroit linemate Lucas Raymond. These guys are more than linemates. They are buddies, brothers in arms.
.But for two-plus hours this afternoon, the two Red Wings forwards will treat each other like enemy combatants. Larkin's Americans and Raymond's Swedish squad will clash in a quarterfinal Olympic match-up (3 p.m. ET, Peacock). It is an encounter that will send one of them home and the other on the path to a possible Olympic medal.
It's not surprising that their teams must meet, but a quarterfinal confrontation was not on anyone's bingo card. It is a case of bad luck for both teams. The undefeated Americans (3-0) should rightfully expect an easier quarterfinal matchup based on their record. But a goal-differential tiebreaker left them as the No. 2 seed behind Canada. That put USA in a bracket that sent the team on a course to face a Swedish team that placed third in Group play.
Based on talent, the Swedes were not the third-best team in their group, but unnatural results occur in international competition. The Swedes also were betrayed by a goal-differential tiebreaker. But the added twist is the Slovakia goal that pushed the Swedes to third was a power play tally resulting from a bad penalty by Raymond.
Although Raymond has been criticized heavily by Swedish media for his mistake, he has been Sweden's top offensive star. Raymond's eight points (one goal, seven assists) rank him second behind Connor McDavid for the tournament scoring lead.
It will be intriguing if Larkin's line is assigned to slowing down Raymond's line. If there is anyone who understands how Raymond operates, it's Larkin. The bragging rights will be important for these two guys, although not as important as staying in the medal race.