Dylan Larkin hasn't won much in his hockey life. Olympic gold with the US would change that

MILAN — Nine hours before playing the latest big game of his life, Dylan Larkin knew what was at stake for him and his U.S. teammates at the Olympics.

''For all of us, it's two games for legacy,'' Larkin said.

Larkin then took his legacy in his own hands, scoring the first goal in a 6-2 victory over Slovakia on Friday night that put the U.S. into the gold-medal game against Canada.

Now 29 and five months shy of turning 30, winning a gold medal at the Games would be by far the biggest accomplishment of Larkin's hockey career. The Michigan native has yet to win any of the seven tournaments he has represented his country at internationally as an adult, and he has never won a playoff series in his first decade in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings, skating in just one.

All that losing over the years has made Larkin a sympathetic character on sports' biggest stage.

''We root for all the guys, but Larks in particular, he's gone through the experience that he's gone through in Detroit," coach Mike Sullivan said. "He's a great teammate. All he wants to do is win. He's willing to embrace anything we ask of him to do so, and he's capable in so many ways. Am I rooting for him? Absolutely.''

Like at the 4 Nations Face-Off a year ago, Sullivan and his staff asked Larkin to play a depth, grinding role and kill penalties at the Olympics. In addition to that, Larkin scored a goal in each of the two knockout round games and had an assist in round-robin play.

It was a challenge by Larkin, a regular at the world championship, that got NHL players like Tage Thompson and Clayton Keller to attend last year. Larkin only missed it for family reasons, the U.S. won the tournament for the first time since 1933 and Thompson and Keller made the Olympic team in part because of their contributions.

Larkin is nearly a point-a-game producer for Detroit, which is on track to end its lengthy playoff drought that dates to 2016. He also seems to raise his level of play when there's ''USA'' on his chest, a graduate of the U.S. National Team Development Program and a gold medalist at the 2014 under-18 worlds.

''USA Hockey means the world to me, and I'm here because of USA Hockey, the National Team Development Program,'' Larkin said. ''Sully's talked about the number of guys that have won a gold medal as men's hockey players for the U.S., and it's a small number. We'd like to be a part of that and inspire kids for generations to come.''

Beating Canada on Sunday would put Larkin and the rest of the U.S. on top of the hockey world. It is another chance for him to make a difference, which teammates have enjoyed seeing so far.

''Dylan's a huge part of our team,'' forward J.T. Miller said. "He can literally do anything, play any situation, either end of the rink. Awesome that we have him.''