In Detroit, Dylan Larkin returned the Red Wings’ bench and promptly potted a pair of goals in a 6-3 win over the visiting New York Islanders. 
For Detroit, it was a huge two points as they continue to push back on the rest of the chasers for the wild card, at least, in the Eastern Conference.
“It meant a lot to be back out there battling with the guys and watching everyone contribute,” Larkin said. “We had everyone playing as hard as they could, blocking shots, winning battles — it was exactly the kind of attitude we needed.”
James Reimer made 33 saves in the win.
“This is a huge team win — a quality win when we really needed it,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. “We took care of business at home.”
Detroit moved to 36-28-6 off their third win in four games.
After a scoreless opening stanza, Christian Fischer hit for the game’s first marker at 11:15 of the middle frame and a 1-0 lead to the Red Wings.
The Isles relied with a strike by Mike Reilly at 13:25 to knot the game, 1-1, scoring off a shot that just did sneak in for the goal.
Andrew Copp, who also had a double on the night, responded for the Red Wings with a marker at 16:00, scoring off a rebound to end a 22-game drought.
Larkin picked up his first of the night at 18:08 for a 3-1 lead headed to the third period.
“He means everything to this team,” Fischer said of Larkin. “He’s a true No. 1 center, which is really hard to find, and you could see every guy competing a little harder just having [Larkin] back out there.”
The Islanders dropped to 29-25-15 off their fifth straight loss.
“I know the name of the game is winning, but I will say our guys played a really good game,” New York coach Patrick Roy said. “If we played this game again, I’m pretty sure we would win it.”
Copp collected his double at 5:12 of the third period for a 4-1 advantage to Detroit.
Patrick Kane ballooned the lead to made it 5-1 at 6:22.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau hit off the power play for the Islanders at 9:34 to cut the deficit to 5-2.
Mathew Barzal then scored at 11:20 off a shot through a tangle of sticks and legs for a 5-3 score. s stick.
“It was 5-1, and our guys kept going at them,” Roy said. “We made it a 5-3 game, we pulled the goalie and we have some great chances to make it a 5-4 game. I appreciate that a lot from our guys.”
Larkin collected his double when he hit an empty net at 16:15 for the 6-3 final count on the scoreboard.
“It’s unbelievable,” Lalonde said of Larkin’s impact. “It’s such a huge difference when everyone is slotted where they need to be.”
Ilya Sorokin made 18 saves in the loss.
“That was definitely unacceptable,” Reilly said. “We came in after the second period and said, ‘Let’s go out and win the period and just see what happens.’ Obviously, we can’t go out and start the period like that.”
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