Larkin says his late hit on Alex Ovechkin was unintentional.

The Detroit Red Wings suffered another embarrassing loss on Saturday night and by the time it was all said and done there appeared to be real signs that frustration was starting to boil over for the National Hockey League's worst team.

 For the most part the Red Wings played a pretty tight game against a tough Washington Capitals squad, and did so without the presence of injured veteran goaltender Jimmy Howard no less, but before they had played a full 60 minutes of hockey things began to fall apart. It was likely the back to back empty net goals from Capitals star forward Alexander Ovechkin that truly infuriated the players on the Red Wings roster, a total collapse late in the game that only further skewed the team's already laughable goal differential, and that was also the moment that many feel Red Wings star forward Dylan Larkin crossed the line.

Ovechkin's first empty net goal was largely uncontested as Ovechkin found himself with a clear path to the empty net after a Red Wings turnover in the neutral zone, but his second empty netter on the night was much different. This time it was Ovechkin himself who created the opportunity for what would be his third goal of the evening, a hat trick albeit arguably the ugliest hat trick of his NHL career, and he did so by stripping the puck from the aforementioned Dylan Larkin in the neutral zone and charging towards the Red Wings net. Larkin was well behind the play but Red Wings defenseman Filip Hronek tried valiantly to stop the scoring effort, although he drew a penalty with that effort which would have made the goal automatic anyways. It was what happened just after the puck crossed the goal line however that rubbed some fans the wrong way. 

Ovechkin was already off balance from fighting off Hronek when Larkin came and smashed his stick on the side of the net and bumped the Capitals star forward in the process. It was a dangerous hit that came well after the play was over, but one that you could argue was a result of Larkin smashing his stick. As you will hear in the short clip provided below by the NHL, the broadcast crew however felt it had clearly been a cheap and dirty pay on the part of a frustrated Larkin.

Ovechkin also seemed to be in disbelief at what just happened based on hsi reaction to the incident, but following the gamer Dylan Larkin claimed that he had not meant to hit Ovechkin. 

“I was frustrated that the last goal was my fault. Just a build-up,” Larkin said as per Red Wings insider Ansar Khan. “I didn’t mean to take out Ovechkin. I think he just happened to be there.” 

I must admit this one is a tough one to call. To me Larkin's body language on the play does not come across as someone that is trying to lay out an opponent, however the circumstances and the context of the situation certainly lead me to believe that Larkin was definitely frustrated by the late game turnover.

What do you think? Was it intentional?