The Detroit Red Wings have been without their captain, Dylan Larkin, for just over two weeks due to a leg injury suffered on March 6th. Fortunately for the Red Wings, Ansar Khan of MLive reported that Larkin is nearing a day-to-day status, meaning he should return relatively soon.
Larkin has missed Detroit’s last six games due to his leg injury. Although the team has gone 3-2-1 in that stretch, they’re entering crunch time for their postseason lives. Their upcoming schedule won’t give them any favors, with consecutive games against the Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Red Wings would welcome a return at any time. Not only is Larkin the team’s top center by a significant margin, but he is the heart and soul of the team. Simply put, Detroit typically looks like a completely different team without Larkin. If he returns by the end of next week, the Red Wings will get a major boost as they look to string some wins together to close out the regular season.
Additional notes from the Atlantic Division:
- Another Atlantic Division team in the playoff hunt is the Ottawa Senators, who are also dealing with a significant injury to an important player. Like Larkin, defenseman Jake Sanderson has missed the last few weeks with the Senators, this time due to an upper-body injury. Similar to Detroit, Ottawa has played fine without Sanderson, but he objectively gives them a better chance to win each night. According to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen, Sanderson is expected to return by the end of March or early April.
- Staying in Ontario, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced that defenseman Morgan Rielly would miss today’s game due to a lower-body injury. It is believed that Rielly did not suffer the injury due to any direct play in Toronto’s recent game against the Carolina Hurricanes, but rather re-aggravated an issue from earlier in the season. The 13-year veteran has scored nine goals and 33 points in 67 games for the Maple Leafs this season, averaging 21:15 of ice time.