#LGRW Final: Red Wings sweep division-leading Hurricanes with 3-1 win

DETROIT -- Seven hours after the Detroit Red Wings made the biggest headlines in the NHL by
trading Anthony Mantha for two players and two draft picks
, the Wings made headlines again Monday night by completing a sweep of the Central Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes with a 3-1 win at PNC Arena.

Adam Erne and Filip Zadina scored 2:10 apart to break a scoreless tie in the third period and Jonathan Bernier made 37 saves to lift the Red Wings to a statement victory in what was their most impressive series of the 2020-21 campaign.
The Red Wings shut down Carolina's league-leading power play unit, forcing the Hurricanes to go 0-for-4 on the man advantage in the win, which improved Detroit's record to 14-23-6, while Carolina fell to 27-9-4 with the loss.

Wings captain Dylan Larkin said he was pleased with how his team responded to the stressful situation of NHL Trade Deadline day and losing a valued teammate like Mantha.
"You saw what we're capable of and a lot of guys were in stressful situations today, especially being on the road during this time," Larkin said after the game. "You look at Jonathan Bernier, example No. 1, he was stressed, and he wants to be a Red Wing and he showed it tonight. Incredible performance. (He) showed how professional he is, how he prepares no matter what he's facing, and he was our rock tonight.
"(I'm) very happy with our team and the way we showed up these two games against the top team in our division."

The Red Wings had the Hurricanes on their heels from the opening minutes, creating several chances midway through the first period and wreaking havoc in front of James Reimer's net.
Neither team scored through the first 40 minutes, but the Wings struck quickly in the third period as Michael Rasmussen carried the puck across the blue line and behind the net before delivering a perfect pass to Erne who beat Reimer to take a 1-0 lead.
The goal, at 24 seconds of the third, was Erne's team-leading 11th tally of the season and extended Erne's career-high point streak to seven consecutive games. It was also the 20,000th goal in Red Wings franchise history.
The Hurricanes challenged that the play was offsides, but after review, the call was upheld and Carolina was assessed a bench minor for delay of game.
Carolina was charged with another delay of game penalty 1:13 into the power play, and while the Hurricanes killed the first penalty, the Red Wings extended their lead to 2-0 when Larkin made a move just past the blue line to beat Sebastian Aho before sending a pass to Rasmussen.

The power forward attracted a lot of attention in front of the net and found an open Zadina for a one-time shot on the doorstep that beat Reimer for the power-play goal.
Carolina forward Nino Niederreiter spoiled Bernier's shutout and made it a one-goal game at 13:54 of the third, but the Red Wings buckled down defensively and Sam Gagner scored an empty-net goal with 55 seconds to go to put the game away and hand the Hurricanes just their third regulation loss of the season at home.
Valtteri Filppula and Rasmussen each earned two assists on the night while Danny DeKeyser earned the second helper on Gagner's empty netter to secure the win.

Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said one of his biggest takeaways of the game was the steady improvement that Rasmussen and Zadina have shown of late.
"Those two in particular have really taken steps and I think Zadina has been more dangerous on a regular basis," Blashill said. "That's a great shot that he got. (Rasmussen) I think really, really has done a good job. He had a lot of responsibility tonight. He's had responsibility on our power play and our penalty kill.
"It's interesting Jordan Staal's 1,000th game was tonight, because that is a guy I have talked to Ras about, that he can be a guy like Jordan, where you can shut the other teams' best players down, where you can create offense by using your assets, by being good on the power play and potentially a penalty killer. So I think both those guys have taken big strides and hopefully they can continue over the last 12 games."
The Red Wings have a rare two days off before returning to Little Caesars Arena Thursday night to host the Original Six-rival Chicago Blackhawks in the first of a two-game series. Puck drop for Thursday's series opener against the Blackhawks is set for 7:30 p.m. on Bally Sports Detroit.