MILAN — Dylan Larkin’s hard work at the 2026 Winter Olympics was rewarded with as big a goal as he’s scored in his career, one that delighted his USA teammates.
The Americans play Slovakia in the semifinals of men’s hockey Friday, Feb. 19 at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, with Canada facing Finland in the other match. The winners play for gold, the losers for bronze.
Team USA goes into the game coming off a good test against Sweden in the quarterfinals, winning 2-1 in overtime. The scoring that had come relatively easily in the preliminary round wasn’t there. It was 0-0 midway through the game. Then Larkin went to the net, Jack Hughes shot the puck, Larkin redirected it, and USA erupted in cheers.
‘He always shows up in big moments, that just the type of player that he is,’ teammate Brady Tkachuk said. ‘It’s so fun to be on the same team. He’s such a great player and he stepped up just exactly when we needed him to.
‘He’s always the X-Factor. Great five-on-five player, scored a big goal for us. Just a fantastic player.’
Larkin ranked the goal, ‘up there. It’s up there to do an elimination game against Sweden. It’s pretty special, for sure.’
Larkin had been more of a PK factor until the goal, putting in the hard shifts that opponents of the Detroit Red Wings, who he captains, are used to seeing. Larkin’s first point of the Olympics was an assist in the third and last game of the preliminary round.
Where the likes of Auston Matthews and Quinn Hughes (who scored the OT goal) are noticeable partly for their offensive contributions, and Brady and Matthew Tkachuk for being front and center poster boys for the team, Larkin’s path through the Olympics has been a little different. Larkin, 29, has centered the third line and been a key part of the penalty kill, doing the little things that don’t show up on a scoreboard but show up in a team’s success. To see the joy on his face when the puck went in underscored his performance.
‘Huge reward,’ coach Mike Sullivan said. ‘Larks is a big part of this team. He competes hard on both sides of the puck. All these guys, when you look at their numbers in the NHL, all these guys are elite players. They’re all right around a point a game.
‘We’re casting these guys in certain roles, whether it be on the defensive side or killing penalties. We’re trying to spread the workload a little bit, but we’re also trying to build a team chemistry around around the roles. And players understand what the contributions are. Larks has done a great job in what we’ve asked of him and whatever we ask of him, he embraces. He’s excited to do it. He just wants to be part of this USA team.’