from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,
There was 2:45 to play in regulation, the game was tied, and the Detroit Red Wings needed at least a point to keep their playoff chase alive. A penalty to Patrick Kane meant dealing with the Toronto Maple Leafs' power play, and Auston Matthews chasing his 70th goal.
Larkin didn't want to miss a second of trying to deny Matthews, of denying the Leafs, of stoking his own team's hopes.
"I think I was on the ice for most of the penalty kill there at the end," he said, "so I was breathing through my eyes and just trying to gut it out."
"We know what’s at stake," Larkin said. "We kept saying, we need the two points. To get to this point, I’m not happy we’re in this position, fighting for our lives, but in Pittsburgh and at home against Washington, we’ve been fighting for our lives here. The sacrifice, the attitude of the guys has been unbelievable. We got rewarded for all the hard work we’ve done the last stretch here where we haven’t been getting rewarded."