Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin played third line center for Team USA in a 5-1 win against Moritz Seider-led Germany in the third preliminary game for both teams at the 2026 Olympics.

TOI

Kyle Connor, one of Larkin’s linemates, was a healthy scratch against Germany. Clayton Keller replaced him on Larkin’s line. Tage Thompson was Larkin’s other winger. Larkin played 15:59 minutes, the most he has played in the tournament thus far. He played 6:07 in the third period, the most minutes by any U.S. forward. Both Keller and Thompson played under 10 minutes.

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— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 16, 2026

Production

This was Larkin’s best game of the tournament. He set up a Thompson goal to earn his first assist of the tournament. He also went 6-2 (75%) on faceoffs to make him 19-5 (79.6%) in the tournament. Larkin was plus-one with two shots on goal.  It’s clear coaches have plenty of trust in Larkin in his third line role.

Game Notes

The U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team is commemorating Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau in its locker room, with Johnny’s No. 13 jersey and a banner displaying both Johnny’s (13) and Matthew’s (21) numbers hanging. The brothers tragically died on August 29, 2024, while riding bicycles the day before their sister was to be married. Both were hockey players and Johnny competed for Team USA in six different international events, including five IIHF Men’s World Championships and one IIHF World Junior Championship.

Analysis

Based on goal differential, Canada ended up the No. 1 seed in the preliminary round. USA was No. 2. Because of that, the Americans could end up with a challenging quarterfinal matchup against Sweden. Larkin vs. his linemate Lucas Raymond. This is not what the Americans wanted to happen.  Meanwhile, Canada gets the winner of the Czech Republic-Denmark matchup.

Next Game

The Americans play the winner of Tuesday’s Sweden-Latvia game in a quarterfinal on Wednesday at 3:10 p.m., ET.

 

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