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Red Wings Notebook: Larkin Hits Double Digits; Milestones for Veleno, DeBrincat

Detroit captain scores 10 goals in January

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3 months ago

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Dylan Larkin, Red Wings
Captain Dylan Larkin is the first Red Wings player to score 10 goals in a month since Justin Abelkader did it in 2015.

When it comes to personal achievements, Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin is generally loathe to talk about himself. Even in discussing the fact that he’s the first Detroit player to reach double digits in goals for a month in nearly a decade, Larkin was adeptly turning it into a conversation about how well the team was playing during the just-completed first month of 2024.

“It’s one of those times I guess where you’re feeling good and the team’s playing well,” Larkin said following Wednesday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators. “It’s just nice to contribute when the team’s winning.”

Larkin wound up scoring in the third period, making it 2-2. His goal sent the game to OT, securing a point for Detroit. The Red Wings finshing mark for January was 9-2-2.

As for Larkin, he’s collected points in 12 consecutive games. His goal was his team-leading 23rd of the season and 10th in January. Larkin became the first Red Wings skater to record 10 goals in a calendar month since Justin Abdelkader did so in March 2015 (10-3-13 in 15 games).

Milestone For Veleno

Red Wings center Joe Veleno drew an assist on Detroit’s other goal Wednesday, a tally by Daniel Sprong. Veleno, the 30th player selected in the 2018 NHL entry draft, was skating in his 200th NHL game.

“It’s obviously a pretty cool accomplishment,” Veleno said. “Pretty happy about that for myself.”

Satisfaction isn’t a sentiment that Veleno wants to linger, mind you.

“I want to keep playing more games,” Veleno said. “I’m gonna keep working on my game and try to get better as a player and do my best to be successful.”

Veleno has logged 20 points (9-11-20) in 48 games this season. That matches his career high set in 2022-23 (9-11-20 in 81 games).

Ice Chips

It was also a milestone night for Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat. He was playing in his 500th NHL game. DeBrincat became the third member of the 2016 NHL Draft class to reach the 500-game milestone, joining Matthew Tkachuk (559) and Auston Matthews (526) . . . Detroit has 63 goals scored by players who were not with the team last season, which marks the most of any NHL club.

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