Dylan Larkin, Mason Appleton, Todd McLellan Post Game Comments vs FLA | Oct. 15, 2025

Dylan Larkin, Mason Appleton, Todd McLellan Post Game Comments vs FLA | Oct. 15, 2025

What kind of identity do you think you guys are building so far? Um, I mean, it’s still early. Uh, I think, uh, something we we’ve been doing well is is, uh, we’ve been a good second period team. I don’t know know what the numbers say about that, but, uh, we’ve really built momentum. we’ve um tried to change quick on them and keep their deep pinned in and and create the ozone buzz and and um I feel like we’ve done that well. Um the Toronto game is wasn’t the best performance, but um you know, I think uh the last two games at home, uh this one and Toronto at home, we’ve uh we’ve been really good in the second period. And I think that’s something that um you know we could we could cling on to and and uh you know I think we’re we’re much smarter than we were the first night. Uh but we’re still still aggressive and we still have speed. So like I said it’s still early in the season but um good response last uh last three games. Does a win like this go a long way? Yeah, absolutely. Every win goes a long way. Um, you know, the back-to-back champs uh it’s a good hockey team over there and um you know, we did uh we we’re down with without uh without Lucas and and guys stepped up and power play was still good and and um we didn’t just sit back the whole the whole third. We we had some chances, we pressed, we skated. Um so it’s a everyone’s big but it it does feel good especially at home to beat the the backto-back champs. What can you say about what Mason’s brought to your line obviously in a pinch with Lucas outlaw? Yeah, I mean he’s brought uh some straight lines and and uh you know he’s he scored two big goals and uh being in the right places at the right time and and that’s something I’ve noticed with with playing with him and um you know he’s he’s uh he seemed to be uh you know able to skate and and uh I’ve really enjoyed playing with him. So, it’s been been one game and and a little bit, but um he’s brought some straight lines and and uh you know, good uh good veteran presence on on our line. So, you guys talked this the preseason about the tough start in terms of the schedule and how it was important to to get off to a good start and that you’re doing it. Like, what does that say about this team? Yeah, it I mean uh opening night was was as last time I talked to you guys, it was it was a head scratcher and I don’t want to dwell in the past, but the the response we’ve had is it says a lot and and we got challenged right away uh from day one about being resilient, mentally tough. Uh you know, I think uh um we’ve all showed it and and we we’ve showed that we’re capable of it. Um, we’re show we we’ve showed we can play with the lead and we showed we we’ve showed that uh when we’re not playing well, we we can get get some saves from our goalending and and steal games that way. So, we’ve really done it uh with our depth with in different ways as well. So, um I’ve been impressed with with the rebound and and uh um our whole lineup, every guy in this room has has responded well. What can you say about Cam’s performance, especially over the last two games, how huge it’s been for this team? Yeah, it’s it it has and and um I think I was uh with with picking up Gibby in the summer, I was I was very excited about our our both of those guys. Um but I mean there’s not much more to say than than Cam’s performance in Toronto was was very special. will to follow it up again tonight. Um we’re going to need both those guys and and for Talbs to show up here uh the last last two three nights as as uh um we we saw it last year and and uh um when he gets hot he’s he’s he’s uh he can be one of the top goalies in the league. So um that’s that’s a that’s a great sign for our for our hockey team. How pleased are you with Van Reike? I mean the guy wasn’t here preseason or any of that stuff and now he comes in and is on that fourth line pretty good. Yeah, he’s he’s a good hockey player and and uh you know, he’s he’s been a good hockey player u for a long time in this league and knows how to put the puck in the net and um makes a lot of great hockey plays where he he takes a hit to make a play. He chips it out at the right time. He’s he’s really good around the net. So um I mean there’s just a lot to like there and that the presence that he brings to to any line he plays on and um just a really good hockey player. How much does a good start you feel build a strong foundation to look back on? Well, I mean, you uh you need it to have a good year, you have to have a good start. So, um it’s uh it’s very important. And it, like I said, I think my first line to you guys, it’s it’s not uh it’s not everything, but uh but a good start. So, we keep going and and keep finding ways to win, which is most important in this league. Just a thought on the rookies. Uh Finny had that late chance set up by Michael as he was falling forward. I mean the the poise they play with. Yeah. I mean, you know, the they don’t seem too flustered by any any moment and um they bring a great energy to our locker room. So, uh I’ve been I’ve loved playing with Finn and and uh uh Bran brings uh you know, he doesn’t um look like a a 20-year-old rookie. He plays with a lot of poise and he’s heavy and um wins a lot of battles. So, uh, you know, I’m I’m just trying to tell them that they’re going to break through at some point and and, um, you know, when it when it comes, it’s going to, you know, you get streaky in this league. So, uh, it, uh, it’ll it’ll it’ll those guys will break through. And same with Axe. They they’ve brought a, you know, a great spark to our team and they’re all uh, you know, can’t say enough good things about those those three. Couple really big kills tonight. I know that it’s been a priority for you guys since camp, too. What’s going well for that unit that you see? Um, you know, I think the the tweaks to be a little bit more aggressive have helped and and with that I think uh, you know, we’ve we’ve really tried to focus on especially the group up front to be out there 20 25 seconds and get off. You know, just just play to get that clear and get off and and uh, you know, that’s kind of a good way to to break up to two minutes, take care of your 20 seconds and then hand it off to the next guy and and uh, and just roll them over. So, I think we’ve done a good job with that. you don’t see guys staying out there trying to kill the whole two minutes and um it’s just too hard of a league and um to play tired out there. So I think uh that that adjustment’s helped us a lot. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you. For you over these last two games, especially scoring three goals. Um yeah, I think it was just kind of simple, fast, hard hockey. Uh not a crazy recipe. The Golden Knight and Large makes a great play and uh just kind of getting on that and empty net is what it is. But, uh, yeah, it’s just getting pucks to the net and finding spots and places to, uh, you know, get myself into scoring chances. So, uh, yeah, it’s kind of simple recipe. Record a side, how do you feel like you guys are building, um, game after game? Um, yeah, we’re definitely building. Uh, you start poorly um, and get beat by Montreal. And then from there, you know, you go on a little run wins-wise, but every win has looked a little different. We, you know, had a dominant win in here against Toronto and then we go there and somehow we find a way to win the game. Um, and then tonight you got the defending champs and you like some of your game. We liked most of our game tonight, but uh, wins are coming in different ways. Uh, you know, guys are stepping up. We got goalender that’s playing great hockey. So, uh, yeah, there’s a lot of different recipes to win in this league and, you know, we’re we’re displaying that, but at the same time, we’re trying to build towards, uh, you know, a playoff style game and, you know, a game that fits our our roster, right? And, yeah, you know, you got to build on that every day and it’s still early. How does that keep everybody engaged where it’s not just one guy everybody’s looking at? Well, I mean, that’s that’s the league. uh you know it’s not the NBA where a superstar can kind of take over a game and a team um doesn’t happen in the NHL. It’s you know 12 forward, six defense and uh and a goalie. So it’s just kind of you got to be a welloiled machine in that aspect. You need you know you need four lines going and you need your your three D pairs going and uh every you know different lines have won different games for us and that’s you know that goes to show how caliber of guys we got in this room. Does your game change any when you go up and play with guys like Lurin and Finny? No. Um kind of touched on it this morning. I just try to you know play my game and then um you know have it affect them in that aspect where just hard on pucks uh make simple plays, play fast, get on the for check, defend hard, just you know be predictable towards them or to them so they uh they know what I’m going to bring and then they can kind of read off that and feed off that. They had a chance to tie there on the power play in third, but the PK stepped up. Has been solid through four games. What have you seen from the unit? Yeah, the PK’s been really good. Uh we’ve been building a lot of confidence, too. You you know, you give up a couple say early in the season, you can’t feel good, you know, and then you your mindset shifts a little bit. But when you when you’re building and you’re getting kills, you stay aggressive. You don’t think as much. You just make the simple reads and your sticks and bodies are in the right spot and you get the clears and you get the blocks and you know tonight we got a couple huge blocks there and uh couple big clears and you know we did our job and we pride ourselves in being a you know better penalty killing unit than than in the past and I think we’re showing that so far. Thanks. Todd is tonight and Saturday just a good example of how much better of a team you are when you play with pace and energy um tonight and Saturday. So, we played My days are all screwed up. Saturday, we had the real good night here at home, right? Not so good in Toronto. And then tonight, um when we skate and we play with uh some exuberance, some some pop in our legs and move the puck properly, it’s not always clean, but there there’s some pressure that’s coming off of it. We’re a better team. um in Toronto um Monday I guess it was they uh they didn’t allow us to do that and all of a sudden we’re we’re chasing it. So the answer to your question would be yes. And Tala just the performance again from him tonight. Yeah, real good performance. Um you know I thought our players around Talbs did a real good job. They they sling so many pucks to the net. Penalty killers blocked a lot of shots second layer, third layer blocks and uh helped them out. But when pucks did get through, he uh you know, he found a way to get something on it and and the uh rebound situations he handled quite well, too. So, a real good night for him as well. What do you think about how you guys were able to close out the game late obviously, you know, the empty neters, but just the defensive coverage is there in the last five, six minutes. Well, it started u penalty kill. You know, that’s that’s a situation in the past where you kind of hold your breath. Now we’re getting some confidence and uh we believe we can, you know, pull ourselves out of that. Um and uh this power play or their power play, pardon me, was clicking coming in. I know it’s early in the season, but they relied on a lot and scored a lot of goals. So it started with that and then I think it just settled down. Um again, we played probably five of the last seven minutes short because they pulled their goalie a couple times. but some poise, some smart plays, uh some good body position on on um loose scrambly type pucks. We didn’t cheat on the on the offensive side or or go fishing. We were we were heavy. Um so I I thought we played it well. How big are the contributions of Mason Appleton been for this team? And what have you liked the most about his game maybe besides his three goals in the last two games? Well, we all like those goals, but his his presence um you know, he’s he’s played Winnipeg’s had some real good years. You can tell he’s been able to play um around a team that’s won a lot. He gets the game. He he knows when he should be uh pulling out. He knows when he should be diving in. Um his game management skills are pretty good. And um you know, that’s why we felt comfortable putting him up there. Um, we’ve heard that he can go up and pinch hit and do a real good job. We’ve seen that for two games now. Um, guys are really happy for him. He’s he’s fit in our group real well. And how much has it lifted the team morale now? That’s three straight victories over divisional opponents and all high quality opponents as well. Well, we’ll take victories against anybody. Um, you know, obviously our our confidence, we felt good about our team coming out of training camp and then uh you know, we got slapped that first night. Um, for as much as Montreal did it to us, we did it to ourselves, too. And, you know, from that day on, we we could work on things. They gave us some direction and a road map of things we needed to fix. And I give the players credit. They they’ve paid attention. They’ve um worked uh towards those repairs with with detail. And um they’ve earned some wins. Um you know, sometimes the goalender needs to win you one, sometimes teams win you one. Uh, special teams have won us one the last couple nights. We’ve ended up on the positive side. So, uh, we should be confident, but far from arrogant. How much did you like the response after they scored to cut it to two to one? I I thought again we did a good job there. They they had some pressure. Um, you know, they’re going to do that to you. Uh, they scored. It was kind of a what just happened type goal with the the face off and the walkound. Um, a little bit of a missed assignment and that’s probably when Telbs would tell you he’d like to have back. Uh, but that I thought we settled down. There was no panic or or um uh over over excitement or over uh I don’t even know what the word I’m looking for, but just over aroused, I guess, or whatever it might be where we might start making mistakes. The next line went out and handled things well. You had a a 3-2 win in Toronto. This was basically a two-1 win with two empty netters. I mean, those are the types of games that are going to be common place when you get later into the season. So, how important is it not just winning, but winning those types of games? Well, they’re going to be that way. Um, you know, there’s going to be 10, 12, 14 games throughout the year that get away from not just the Red Wings, but from teams one way or the other. You get away, they get away, but the rest are all tight. It’s a three-goal league. you know, first to three usually does win whether it’s u regulation or overtime. And for us, I I feel good enough that we’re going to score close to three a night. Um the preventing part, the defending part, the penalty kill part, it’s all been a work in progress. And if we can keep building our game and improving in those areas, we’ve we’ve got a chance to win these one goal one goal nights. You talk about the block shots, the positioning on offense defense. How big have an emphasis on the small details been for this group and have they embraced that so far? Well, we’ve stressed them since training camp. Um, you know, and I again that’s part of game management. It’s it’s a broad term, but shot blocking and understanding where the shots coming from, especially penalty kill, the layers, who has to step into those those shots, that’s real important. And um you know when guys start to do it and the the bench gets excited about it, it’s it can be contagious and and u there’s a reward that the team rewards the individual for doing it when he gets back. It’s and it may hurt a little bit, but it actually feels pretty good. The player likes that that team acknowledgement and all of a sudden he’s going to do it again and again and now I want to do it. Um and it’s it’s contagious. But when you don’t do it, um, we’re well aware of it. Also, as Mason had shared with us and we’ve seen, they’ve been three very different wins. Do you like being able to see these guys win in different scenarios and under different pressure so far, or would you rather a more consistent identity at this point? No, it’s early in the year. We’re we’re still trying to find our way. Um, I I I think we’re formulating an identity. We’re not always going to be able to play to it. Um, like let’s face it, the other team gets a say in in the outcome and um, uh, there’s good teams in the league. Um, there’s some nights we’re going to play well and it just doesn’t go our way. Uh, but but I think we’re still a work in progress. I think we’re developing an identity. Um, most nights that identity, if we play to it, should at least give us a chance. If we don’t play to it, it’s probably going to be a tough night. Coach, does it feel like uh class is in session on the fourth line with Van Reinddike? Uh, no. James is uh I mean for the other guys Oh, okay. I thought you meant James picking up the game. No, like they he played with Ras and and Elmer tonight, but we sprinkled him throughout the lineup. He was out with different different lines. Um his game is picking up obviously. He’s a crafty veteran. He gets moments. He gets situations. Um he has uh some poise with the puck that that we’re hoping others will get eventually. Um but I I think Ras has a real good idea of how he’s playing. Elmer maybe hasn’t been around quite as much, but uh I think our team knows him fairly well. Um he been out east here forever and uh anybody that’s been in the league has a pretty good idea of what his toolbox looks like. All good. Have a good night.

Dylan Larkin, Mason Appleton, and Todd McLellan speak with the media following Detroit’s game against the Florida Panthers on Wednesday October 15, 2025 at Little Caesars Arena.