Dylan Larkin Shares Incredible Story About What He Saw After Scoring Dagger Against Canada

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Dylan Larkin has scored plenty of goals in his 10-year NHL career - 235 to be exact - but his lighting of the lamp during the Four Nationals Faceoff on Saturday stands above the rest. Not only did the goal come with 'USA" written across his chest in a game against Canada in Montreal, but his game-winner occurred right in front of his parents.

After there were three separate fights on the ice in the opening 10 seconds of Saturday night's contest, the rivalry matchup settled into an instant classic between two teams filled with superstars from top to bottom. 

With things knotted at 1-1 deep into the second period, Team USA caught the Canadians in a vulnerable spot with both defensemen on the ice making a shift change. Larkin gathered the puck on his own blue line and found himself in a two-on-one situation with J.T. Miller as he made his way into Canada's zone. 

The Red Wings' captain elected to keep the puck himself and fire it on net, which proved to be the right move as he managed to beat Jordan Binnington. 

While Larkin immediately raised his arms and began celebrating in what is undoubtedly one of the greatest moments of his career, he was also well aware that his tally came right in front of where his parents happened to be sitting inside the arena.

"They were sitting right in that corner," Larkin said after the game. "When I celebrated, I looked up. They were right there."

"He’s got the whitest hair," Larkin said, referring to his father.

Talk about special.

Larkin previously represented the U.S. back in 2015 as a member of the World Junior team scoring five goals in five games, but having gone a decade without playing with ‘USA’ across the front of his sweater, his goal against Canada meant, well, everything.

"Just a great moment for USA Hockey and tonight, I was thinking about kids watching that game," Larkin said after the 3-1 Team USA win. "What kind of message the work ethic, the compete, guys blocking shots. I hope kids are watching that like I was as a kid, wanting so badly to put that jersey on in the next generation."

With the win over the neighbors up north, Team USA will take on Sweden on Monday in its final Round Robin game having already advanced to the final.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets, including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016, when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.