Dylan Larkin says Red Wings must toughen up

Detroit Red Wings fans were riding high and dreaming of a postseason spot after an incredible late February 4-1 road swing that included victories over the Edmonton Oiler and Calgary Flames, followed by a complete victory at home over the contending New York Rangers.

But then, Detroit ran into a brick wall in the form of goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Russian superstar made 45 saves in a Herculean shutout effort in late February, stealing the game for the Tampa Bay Lightning. But it was two straight brutal losses against the Atlantic Division rival Ottawa Senators that essentially sealed Detroit's fate of once again being a seller at the Trade Deadline. 

Not only did Detroit lose the back to back series against Ottawa by a combined score of 12-3, but they were completely outmatched physically and offered little pushback, even when yapping Senators captain Brady Tkachuk challenged the Red Wings bench. 

General manager Steve Yzerman talked about the need to be a more physical team to play against next year in his end-of-season media remarks, and it wasn't long before captain Dylan Larkin echoed his sentiments. 

"There were plenty of times this year I felt guys took liberties," Larkin said earlier today. "Whoever it was, whatever their role on the other team — their tough guys — they kind of had free nights. I think that’s something that needs to be addressed, to have an answer to that."

To Larkin's credit, he's shown absolutely no hesitation to mix it up with the opposition. Understandably, Detroit wouldn't be fond of their captain and top player risking injury by fighting. And while the team did add much-needed grit last offseason in the form of Ben Chiarot, more pushback is needed. 

"You can’t have Mo Seider step up and look over his shoulder all night," Larkin said. "But in terms of playing competitive games, where it’s just battling and competing, I think we’re there. The Ottawa games were more so where those tough guys were running around and we didn’t have an answer for it."

"But when we stuck together, when we played hard, guys blocked shots — we had countless injuries with broken bones and guys doing it the whole season. So I thought we really competed together and you saw scrums and guys were in there together, sticking up for each other."