#LGRW Final: Red Wings earn first win with 4-2 victory over Hurricanes

DETROIT --In a week of firsts, when Dylan Larkin became the first Michigan-born captain in franchise history, Mathias Brome played his first NHL game and the Detroit Red Wings played their first COVID-19-era game, it's only fitting that the first goal of Detroit's season was scored by Bobby Ryan, playing in his first game with the Wings.

Larkin also got his first two goals as Red Wings captain and Detroit earned its first win of the season, defeating the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-2, on Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena.
Larkin said it was obvious that Ryan was amped to put on the Winged Wheel jersey for the first time and said Ryan's presence is a big lift in the lineup.
"You can tell he was fired up to put that jersey on tonight and we need guys like that," Larkin said about Ryan, who missed the season opener with an injury in training camp. "He wanted to come here, he wanted to be on our team and help us become a better team and he's certainly doing that. It's huge having him in the lineup and I couldn't be happier for him getting one tonight."

The Red Wings earned their first lead of the season on Ryan's goal 2:44 into the second period. His linemate, Filip Zadina, earned his first of two assists on Ryan's goal.
The game swung back and forth with Carolina tying the game twice in the third period, but Robby Fabbri scored on a pretty pass from Zadina from behind the net to pull ahead, 3-2, with 2:42 remaining, and Larkin added an empty-net goal 46 seconds later to put the game on ice.
The Red Wings got solid goaltending for the second consecutive game as Jonathan Bernier stopped 29 of the 31 shots he faced to earn his first win of the season in his season debut.

THREE TAKEAWAYS

1. Face-off Difference
The Red Wings were much better in the face-off circle on Saturday than they were in Thursday's loss. On Thursday, Detroit lost the face-off battle by 20 percent, but in Saturday's win, the Wings earned the edge in face-offs, 33-29, for a 53.2-percent clip.
The wins in the face-off circle allowed the Wings to possess the puck much more than they did two nights ago and limited the chances for the Hurricanes, turning the game in Detroit's favor.
2. Increased Physicality
The Red Wings weren't happy with Thursday's result, getting shut out in their own building on opening night, and they showed it. Detroit came out of the gate in a foul mood, laying several huge hits on the Hurricanes in the first period.
Adam Erne dropped the hammer on Hurricanes forward Martin Necas early in the first which drew a big reaction from Detroit's bench, and Vladislav Namestnikov followed it up shortly after with a huge hit of his own. Ryan capped off the Red Wings' aggressive first period with a jarring hit on Necas that knocked his helmet off and drew another huge reaction from the Wings' bench.

3. Carolina Missed Staal
After playing well in the opener, Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal was scratched from Saturday's game due to COVID-19 protocol.
Staal, who's the younger brother of Detroit defenseman Marc Staal, is the Hurricanes' heart and soul, and is Carolina's top face-off man, winning 290 more face-offs than anyone on his team last season. Staal's absence was a huge loss for the Hurricanes in the series finale.

NEXT UP

The Red Wings return to action on Monday, January 18 when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first matchup of a back-to-back series at Little Caesars Arena. The puck drops for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee at 12 p.m.