Dylan Larkin scored a goal and added an assist in his season debut, and Alex DeBrincat had two goals and an assist, as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Ottawa Senators 5-3 on Tuesday night at Little Caesars Arena. The win was Detroit’s first of the 2026-27 season and lifted the Red Wings to 1-2-0.
Larkin, who missed the first two games with an upper-body injury, was activated from injured reserve before the game. It was his first appearance since requesting a trade in the offseason, and the former captain was booed by some fans early in the night, according to Detroit Hockey Now and Detroit Sports Nation. He answered with a first-period goal and was named the game’s first star.
How it happened
Tim Stützle gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 2:44 of the first period, but DeBrincat tied it 32 seconds later, with Nate Danielson and Carter Mazur assisting. Larkin put Detroit ahead at 13:13 of the first, set up by Viktor Arvidsson and DeBrincat.
Detroit pulled away early in the second. Arvidsson scored on the power play at 2:01, with Larkin and Lucas Raymond assisting, and Justin Faulk made it 4-1 at 4:30, assisted by William Wallinder and Raymond. Drake Batherson answered with a power-play goal for Ottawa at 6:08, and William Eklund cut the lead to 4-3 at 10:30 of the third. DeBrincat sealed it with an empty-net goal at 19:10, with Raymond and Faulk assisting.
Raymond finished with three assists. John Gibson was in goal for Detroit, and Samuel Ersson started for Ottawa. Detroit went 2-for-5 on the power play and killed four of five Ottawa chances.
Firsts for the young players
Wallinder, playing his first NHL game, picked up the primary assist on Faulk’s goal. According to the Red Wings, he is the first Detroit defenseman to record a point in his NHL debut since Moritz Seider did it on Oct. 14, 2021. Mazur, in his season debut, earned his first NHL point on DeBrincat’s opening goal.
Roster moves and what’s next
Before the game, Detroit placed forwards Marco Kasper (retroactive to Oct. 2) and Mason Appleton (retroactive to Oct. 4) on injured reserve and recalled forward Sheldon Dries from the Grand Rapids Griffins under emergency conditions. Dries took warmups but did not play. Kasper and Appleton are listed as week-to-week, and J.T. Compher is day-to-day, according to Daily Faceoff and Detroit Hockey Now.
The Red Wings host the Seattle Kraken on Friday, Oct. 9, at Little Caesars Arena.
Sources
- Detroit Red Wings (NHL.com): game recap
- Detroit Red Wings (NHL.com): Dries recall and IR moves
- Detroit Hockey Now: Red Wings down Senators in Larkin’s return
- Detroit Sports Nation: Larkin season debut
- Daily Faceoff: Kasper, Appleton week-to-week; Compher day-to-day
- Detroit Hockey Now: Larkin playing vs. Ottawa
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