A season that started with such promise ended with a mad dash of six-on-four hockey that wasn't enough.

For the fourth time in the series, the Detroit Red Wings lost a one-goal game. This time, it was Patrick Marleau's goal with 12:01 left that gave the San Jose Sharks a 2-1 victory and wrapped up this Western Conference Semifinal four games to one.

It was a game that featured all sorts of oddities: eight different Red Wings taking faceoffs as the linesmen were tossing players from the faceoff circle; a penalty shot to San Jose on a questionable hooking call that would rarely get called in almost any other situation, Marc-Edouard Vlasic going knee-on-knee with Valtteri Filppula in a moment that drew gasps for both players; and finally, a violent Douglas Murray elbow-to-head shot on Johan Franzen that drew no penalty just before the game winning goal.

If anything, the sole reason the Red Wings were even close in this game was the spectacular performance by Jimmy Howard. San Jose had plenty of chances, but it was Howard making 30 saves on a night where the offense couldn't seem to get much going.

After a scoreless first period, Brian Rafalski set the puck up at the blue line and fired a shot that deflected off the stick of Patrick Marleua and past Evgeni Nabokov for Rafalski's third goal of the playoffs. He was set up by Franzen, extending Franzen's point-scoring streak to all 12 games in the playoffs.

But the lead would be short lived. Just 2:14 later, while Brad Stuart sat in the penalty, the Sharks would parlay a faceoff win by Jason Demers to a nice shot by Dany Heatley. Howard would make that stop, but the rebound would go to Joe Thornton, who picked up his third goal of the playoffs.

In the third period, Niklas Kronwall tied up Joe Pavelski going towards the net, on a play that was clearly a penalty. Pavelski was awarded a penalty shot, but managed to push it wide after being challenged by Howard.

But just three minutes later, Rafalski had the puck behind Howard. Instead of trying to play the puck out, he tried to pass it out to his right, only to have it intercepted by Thornton. He found Marleau, who fired a wrister for his third goal of the playoffs, which would prove to be the game winner.

Nabokov would end the night with 33 saves.

Player of the game: Jimmy Howard. How can a losing goaltender get this? Easy: had Howard not made the saves he made, this game would've been a 4-1 blowout. He wasn't able to steal a game, but given the fact that he's a rookie goaltender, that's quite alright.

This Western Conference Semifinal returns to San Jose, as the Detroit Red Wings need to build upon their performance on Thursday in the 7-1 beatdown of the San Jose Sharks to try to become the third team in NHL history to come back from three games down to win a best-of-seven series.

And while the Red Wings can't be expecting an exact replica of Johan Franzen's four-goal, six-point output, they'd undoubtedly like to see the kind of crisp performance we saw in March, versus the sluggish play we recognized from early January.

Puck drop is scheduled for 10:00 PM ET. The game can be seen on Fox Sports Detroit, Comcast Sportsnet (California), TSN, and Versus in its entirety (assuming the Montreal/Pittsburgh game doesn't run long). Comment away below.

Well, that was emphatic.

Facing their first playoff sweep in eight years, the Detroit Red Wings rode the blisteringly hot stick of Johan Franzen to a 7-1 beatdown of the San Jose Sharks in Game Four of a Western Conference Semifinal.

Franzen had four goals and two assists, including a natural hat trick in the first period in a span of 3:26. That was part of a five-goal first period for the Red Wings that killed any chance San Jose had of wrapping up business tonight. 

The win extends the series to a fifth game back in San Jose on Saturday, but still leaves the Sharks with a 3-1 series lead.

Todd Bertuzzi, Valtteri Filppula and Brian Rafalski also scored for the Red Wings. Dany Heatley was the sole mark on Jimmy Howard's 28-save night.

Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov got the gate at the end of the first period, not necessarily because he was responsible for the defecit as much as out of sympathy. For no one seemed able to stop Franzen except Bertuzzi's leg.

It was that leg that deflected Franzen's shot with Dwight Helminen in the penalty box, off a set up by Henrik Zetterberg. Franzen skated in a little bit and fired from the top of the circle, bouncing the puck off Bertuzzi's leg and into the net, earning Bertuzzi his second goal of the playoffs.

Two minutes later, the Wings would score again. Again, it was Zetterberg starting the play, but this time it was his shot that was blocked by Nabokov, who was tied up by Franzen. The puck rolled to the left of Nabokov, and Franzen backhanded it into the net. with Bertuzzi getting the other assist.

Franzen would strike again three minutes later. Nicklas Lidstrom fired the puck up to Bertuzzi. He set up Franzen with a backhand, and Franzen would take the wrister past Nabokov top shelf.

Finally, Franzen would take a blast from 20 feet out. Nabokov made the save, but the puck rolled over to his right, when Franzen found it to bury it just 33 seconds later for his natural hat trick.

Then, with 70 seconds left in the period, Filppula had the puck behind and to the right of Nabokov. He surrendered the puck to Douglas Murray. Murray tried to clear the puck, but instead it went off Dan Boyle and past Nabokov. Filppula picked up his fourth goal as the last Red Wing to touch the puck, with Tomas Holmstrom and Pavel Datsyuk getting helpers.

In the second period, with Helminen once again sitting for two minutes, Franzen sent a pass up ice to Bertuzzi. Bertuzzi made a great cross-ice pass to a streaking Rafalski, who fired it past back-up goaltender Thomas Greiss to get his second of the playoffs.

San Jose would finally crack the scoreboard, though it'd take a five-on-three to make it happen. After it appeared Detroit would be able to kill off the penalty with a Datsyuk clear off a faceoff, Heatley fired a 35-foot shot that simply went through Howard's wickets and into the net for his second of the playoffs. Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau had assists.

In the third period, Franzen would hit again, as Lidstrom fired a shot from the blue line that Franzen would put back to wrap up the scoring, with Zetterberg picking up the second assist.

The third period also saw plenty of chirpiness, as the two teams combined for 17 penalties totaling 64 minutes.

Game five is Saturday night. The Red Wings know the Sharks will be ready. They have to keep it going.

Player of the game: Johan Franzen. Four goals should do nicely, thank you very much.

A virtually insurmountable task faces the Detroit Red Wings. Step one is tonight.

It's Game Four of a Western Conference Semifinal between the Red Wings and the San Jose Sharks, and all San Jose has to do is win one of four to advance.

Meanwhile, Detroit suddenly looks like the Red Wings from mid-January: unable to close out a game, shaky on defense, and hoping beyond hope that their goaltender can keep them in the game.

Faceoff is 7:30 PM ET. The game is on FS Detroit, Comcast Sports Net (California), and TSN. Versus will join the game at the conclusion of the Pittsburgh/Montreal game. Comment away below.

Suddenly, the Detroit Red Wings are looking like the middle-of-winter Red Wings.

And one more performance like Tuesday night, and it'll be the summer Red Wings.

The San Jose Sharks scored a pair of goals in the third period to tie the game, then Patrick Marleau scored on a breakaway off a sloppy Red Wings shot in the other end to win 4-3 and take a 3-0 lead in the series.

This in spite of events that would make the Red Wings fans curse the officiating for a second straight game:

* A Henrik Zetterberg goal was overturned by the video replay room for a distinct kicking motion on a call that was certainly inconclusive from multiple angles.

* A phantom Justin Abdelkader slashing penalty that stopped a Red Wings power play just seven seconds into it.

* The Sharks getting 10:07 of power play time versus 2:07 for Detroit.

But, in the end, the Red Wings dug their own graves, failing to convert a penalty shot after Logan Couture was ruled to have covered the puck in the crease behind Evgeni Nabokov, giving up a goal with just four seconds remaining in the first period, then allowing three unanswered goals, including a Couture blast that Jimmy Howard simply misplayed.

In the first period, just two minutes after Zetterberg's first "goal" wasn't, an almost identical play took place: this time it was Nicklas Lidstrom's pass to Johan Franzen whose shot went off of Tomas Holmstrom's skate and past Nabokov. But where Zetterberg was guilty of skating perpendicular to the puck, Holmstrom was skating towards the puck, which made the deflection much less arguable for a kicking motion. The goal was reviewed, but stood, with Nicklas Lidstrom getting the second assist.

Five minutes later, Drew Miller took the puck behind the net and sent it to Cleary, who was camped out about 12 feet in front of the net. He didn't miss, netting his second of the playoffs, with Zetterberg earning an assist.

But with four seconds remaining in the first period, the Sharks would break through. Devin Setoguchi took a centering pass from Joe Pavelski and put it just above Howard's pads and into the net for his fifth of the playoffs. Ryan Clowe also picked up an assist.

In the second period, Zetterberg would take an odd angle shot as he was along the goal line. His shot moved off the goal line, but deflected off the skate of a Sharks player and just to the left of Nabokov and into the net. Valtteri Filppula and Brian Rafalski had assists, and the Red Wings lead returned to two goals.

In the third, the ice tilted towards the Sharks. Joe Thornton swiped the puck off a Red Wings faceoff win. With four Red Wings surrounding him, he brought the puck around the back of the net, about eight feet in front of the net, then fired a shot that went off Pavel Datsyuk's stick and past Howard for his second of the playoffs.

Then, after a bad turnover, Couture was along the goal line, skating towards the net, when his shot got through Howard for his third of the playoffs. Torrey Mitchell and Marc-Edouard Vlasic earned the assists.

Finally, in overtime, a Rafalski attempt was blocked, sending it around the boards to Thornton. The Wings had overcommitted, leaving Thornton and Marleau on a two-on-one. Howard committed to Thornton, who simply passed over to Marleau for the game winner.

Game Four is Thursday night. At this rate, it may well be their last.

Player of the game: Henrik Zetterberg. An overall strong performance, with a goal and an assist.

The Detroit Red Wings return to Joe Louis Arena for Game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the San Jose Sharks. Coming off a pair of losses on the road, Detroit has to return to the magic that gave them a 3-0-1 during the regular season against the Sharks.

Tonight's game starts at 7:30 and will air in its entirety on Comcast Sports Net (California), Fox Sports Detroit, TSN, and the NHL Center Ice cable package. Versus will join the game in progress after the Pittsburgh/Montreal game ends. Please feel free to comment below.

Entering tonight's game, there was a sense that all six games in this Western Conference Quarterfinal were tight, even if the final score didn't show it.

In Game 7, the final score did not reflect how badly the Detroit Red Wings beat down the Phoenix Coyotes.

A pair of goals from Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk led Detroit to a 6-1 win, taking the series 4-3. Detroit gets to advance to the Western Conference Semifinal against the San Jose Sharks.

Make no mistake: the sole reason the final score was that close was because of the goaltending of Ilya Bryzgalov, who faced 50 shots and made a series of sparking saves in the first 30 minutes that would've made it a much bigger blowout.

Even the other two goal scorers for the Red Wings were players who needed goals: Brad Stuart, whose turnover on a Game Six Detroit power play turned into a short-handed goal, came out of the penalty box to get a breakaway goal; and Todd Bertuzzi, who has struggled offensively throughout this series. Henrik Zetterberg also earned three assists on the night.

Jimmy Howard was superb again, making 32 saves, only letting a Vernon Fiddler faceoff win get past him (and that was far more the fault of Datsyuk, who lost the draw, than anything Howard could've possibly done). It is hard to realize that he is a rookie.

The Detroit power play was just as impressive, going 3-for-6 with an astounding 16 shots. And the penalty kill was perfect on five attempts, including a 1:12 stretch of five-on-three.

After a scoreless first period, the second period started when Martin Hanzal went to the penalty box for slashing. On the ensuing power play, Lidstrom skated around the back of the net and found an open Datsyuk about 20 feet in front of the crease. His slap shot would beat Bryzgalov for his fourth of the season.

Just 1:41 later, Datsyuk would strike again. This time, it was a great setup as Brian Rafalski passed to Henrik Zetterberg to Datsyuk on a breakaway. He would go top shelf to make it 2-0.

But Phoenix would take advantage of a huge mental error. Fiddler was facing Datsyuk on a faceoff to the right of Howard. Datsyuk over swung on the draw, and Fiddler was able to fire directly off the faceoff and past Howard, who was simply stunned by the shot. It was Fiddler's first playoff goal.

But the Red Wings power play would strike again. A fresh Lidstrom came onto the ice on the tail end of a wild power play that saw six Detroit shots. Zetterberg and Valtteri Filppula each took shots on Bryzgalov, and the puck rolled out to Lidstrom, who put a blast through the traffic and into the back of the net for his second goal of the playoffs.

Then, as the period was drawing to a close after Detroit killed off a five-on-three, Stuart came out of the box and skated quickly cross-ice to the far side of the rink to grab a puck that went just past the outstretched arms of Mathieu Schneider in the neutral zone. In alone, he went high on Bryzaglov to net his second of the playoffs with just five seconds remaining in the period.

In the third period, the Red Wings would keep pouring it on. Filppula skated in and fired a shot that Bryzgalov handled, but Rabim Vrbada seemed to be ambivalent with Bertuzzi. He would quickly make them pay with his first playoff goal this year.

Finally, with Fiddler serving four minutes for a pair of minors, Lidstrom struck again, this time with shot over Bryzgalov's right shoulder off the pass from Rafalski. Johan Franzen also picked up an assist.

While the NHL has not announced the schedule for the Western Conference Semifinals, it is widely assumed that Games One and Two will take place on Thursday and Sunday due to concerts scheduled at the Sharks home rink on Friday and Saturday.

Player of the Game: Pavel Datsyuk. His two goals early set the tone, with the second one being positively Datsyukian.

From 0-0 to 4-1 in a single period? Yeah, we're gonna need another boat.

Comment away below.

Well, at least the league graciously scheduled this thing at 9:00 PM ET instead of 10:00 or 10:30.

Yes, it's Game Seven. Winner travels to San Jose. Loser makes a tee time.

The game airs on FS Detroit, FS Arizona, Versus, and TSN. Comment away below.

The Detroit Red Wings picked a bad afternoon to have their penalty kill disappear.

In a stunning repeat of Game 1, the Phoenix Coyotes cashed in on three power plays, plus a short-handed goal during a 4:50-stretch of power play for the Red Wings. That lead to a 5-2 victory in Game 6 at Joe Louis Arena, and a return trip to Glendale, Arizona for a seventh game of this Western Conference Quarterfinal on Tuesday.

The Red Wings had 20 more attempts attempts than the Coyotes, but found that Ilya Bryzgalov had stepped up to the plate, making 31 saves.

The scoring was spread around for Phoenix. No player had more than two points, and five different players scored the goals: Lauri Korpikoski, Mathieu Schneider, Radim Vrbata, Wojtek Wolski, and Taylor Pyatt. Brad Stuart and Darren Helm scored for Detroit.

Detroit outshot, outhit, and won the faceoff battle. But it wasn't enough to overcome not just an anemic penalty kill, but only their second short-handed goal of the year.

Jimmy Howard made only 24 saves, but it's hard to blame this loss on him: his defense left him hanging on a couple of plays.

The game started out with three Phoenix penalties in the first 4:42, including 1:10 worth of five-on-three. But it was Phoenix who scored first. Korpikoski took advantage of a neutral-zone turnover and came streaking into the zone, shaking off Henrik Zetterberg, firing a 15-footer that went through Howard's wickets and into the net for his first of the playoffs unassisted.

In the second period, Phoenix would increase their lead with Tomas Holmstrom sitting in the box. Lee Stempniak would put the puck on Schneider's stick, and his shot worked through traffic and past Howard to earn his first of the year. Taylor Pyatt earned the second assist.

Just 24 seconds later, the Red Wings would respond. Stuart would swipe the puck and push it towards the net, where Johan Franzen fired a shot that Bryzgalov handled. But the puck started bouncing through the traffic, where it returned to Stuart who hit from 30 feet, earning his first goal of the playoffs. Pavel Datsyuk would also earn an assist.

But the Red Wings penalty kill would fail again: with Kris Draper sitting, the Red Wings would win the faceoff, but not clear the puck. Eventually, Robert Lang pushed the puck to Vrbata, who lifted the puck up and past Howard for his second of the season.

Then Phoenix would use a faceoff to set up their next goal, as Zbynek Michalek would win the faceoff and get the puck to Petr Prucha. Prucha's semi-shot was deflected by Wolski and into the net.

In the third, the Coyotes would get yet another power play tally. This time, it was Pyatt who redirected a Keith Yabdle shot into the net while Henrik Zetterberg sat idle for tripping. Derek Morris earned the second assist on the play.

The Wings would close the scoring, as a Helm slapper got through Bryzgalov, but Martin Hanzal desperately swung back to retrieve the puck. The on-ice officials waved it off, but on the review, it was clear that the puck cleared the goal line, and the ruling was overturned to get Helm his first goal of the payoffs, with Kronwall getting the only assist.

So it will come down to one game on Tuesday night for the right to keep playing.

Player of the game: Darren Helm. He needed to get on the scoresheet, and he did with the late goal. Too bad it was too little.

The Detroit Red Wings return to Joe Louis Arena with an opportunity to eliminate the Phoenix Coyotes from the NHL Playoffs.

After scoring two goals in 68 seconds on Friday night, Detroit cruised to a 4-1 win and a 3-2 lead in the series. Ilya Bryzgalov has looked mortal in the last two games, and for the Coyotes to return to Arizona, he's going to have to bring his a-game to Civic Center Drive.

Meanwhile, the Red Wings need to keep the pressure. Darren Helm has had a nice physical presence, but he's a -4 with only 4 shots in the entire series.

Tha announced puck drop is 2:00 pm. The game is on NBC and TSN. Please follow along below.

It is not considered ideal for a team to only play solid hockey for 10 minutes of a 60-minute hockey game.

That being said, if you're going to do that, it helps for two other things to happen:

* You score three goals in that span.

* You have a goaltender who is playing for a full 60 minutes.

The Detroit Red Wings did just that, jumping from a tied game to a 4-1 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes, giving them the opportunity to end the series on Sunday afternoon at Joe Louis Arena.

Jimmy Howard may have given up one more goal tonight than he did on Tuesday, but he also faced more intense shots, and made some spectacular saves to keep Detroit in the game. While it might be a stretch to say he stole the game, it could just as easily have been a one-goal or tied game after regulation time. 

Tomas Holmstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, and Henrik Zetterberg lit the lamp in that ten-minute stretch, with Holmstrom and Datsyuk scoring just 1:09 apart, to pull away with the win.

Drew Miller also scored for the Red Wings in the first period.

Ed Jovanovski managed the only tally for the Coyotes as they put 31 shots on Howard.

Detroit would score first. Niklas Kronwall put the puck on Drew Miller's stick as Miller skated behind the net. He pushed it towards the crease, where it deflected off Vernon Fiddler's skate while he was engaged with Justin Abdelkader and went past Ilya Bryzgalov. There was a video review, but it confirmed the goal, with Brad Stuart getting the second assist.

In the second period, the Coyotes would tie it up. Just after the Wings killed off a power play, Adrian Aucoin fired a shot from the blue line Howard could handle, but Jovanovski was camped out in front of the net with Lidstrom, and he was able to put in for his first of the playoffs. Matthew Lombardi picked up the other assist on the play.

It was in the third that Detroit seemed to shake off the cobwebs. Datsyuk picked up a faceoff win and put the puck out to the blue line with Nicklas Lidstrom. Lidstrom's shot deflected off Bryzgalov, who remained blissfully unaware of the save. Holmstrom and Aucoin each seemed to follow the puck, but it was Holmstrom who swung his stick to pick up his second goal of the playoffs.

Just 69 seconds later, Holmstrom would return the favor, with a great effort along the boards to put the puck on the stick of Johan Franzen. Franzen managed to get the puck to Datsyuk, who proceeded to play with the puck for just a moment before wristing a backhander that went over Bryzgalov's shoulder, off the post, and into the net. It was the third of the playoffs for Datsyuk.

And with Bryzgalov sitting on the bench, the Red Wings would close out the scoring, as Henrik Zetterberg would put a Valterri Filppula pass into the net for his sixth, one behind Mikael Samuelsson for the NHL playoff goal lead.

Game 6 will be Sunday at 2:00 PM ET at Joe Louis Arena.

Player of the Game: Jimmy Howard. Make no mistake about it: it was Howard's incredible saves tonight that kept the Red Wings in this game during stretches that Detroit seemed to be utterly disinterested in trying to win.

The Western Conference Quarterfinals head back to Glendale where the Red Wings and the Coyotes face off in what is now a best-of-three series.

Coming off the impressive 3-0 win on Tuesday, with a pair of goals by Henrik Zetterberg and a 29-save shutout by Jimmy Howard, the Red Wings seem to have shaken off what ailed them in their 4-2 Game 3 loss.

Will their defense continue to stand strong? We'll find out tonight. The game is a 10:00 pm ET start on FS Detroit, FS Arizona, Versus in the rest of the US, and TSN in Canada. Comment away below.

If you want to point to a potential turning point in this Western Conference Quarterfinal, look at a 3:48 stretch in the third period of Tuesday night's Game 4.

With Johan Franzen already in the penalty box for a questionable roughing call that had him incensed all the way to the door, Andreas Lilja had his stick catch in Martin Hanzal's mid-section. That put the Detroit Red Wings down two men for 17 seconds and extended the power play. With the Red Wings holding a single goal lead on a Henrik Zetterberg tally over the Phoenix Coyotes, the fans at Joe Louis Arena seemed to tense up.

But Detroit managed to kill both penalties, then open up the floodgates with a pair of goals just 25 seconds apart from Pavel Datsyuk and Zetterberg to seal a 3-0 win and even the series at two games each, with Game 5 coming Friday night in Arizona.

Jimmy Howard, whose performance in Game 3 caused some doubts to creep into the picture, eliminated them with a vengeance, blocking all 29 shots from Phoenix to earn his first career playoff shutout. 

With Phoenix captain Shane Doan out with an upper body injury for this game, the pressure seemed to be on the "Czech Line" of the Coyotes. But Radim Vrbata, Petr Prucha and Hanzal were held to six shots and a pair of penalties, the second of which from Hanzal led to the Red Wings first goal of the night.

Brian Rafalski was along the near side boards near the blue line. He passed the puck across to Niklas Kronwall, whose shot deflected off Zetterberg's raised stick, past Bertuzzi's stick and into the top corner of the net, banking off the corner of the post. There was a review of the goal to see if the stick was high, (Ilya Bryzgalov quickly barked to the official after the light shone) but the replay officials did not overturn it.

In the third period, Detroit would ice it with a pair of goals. First, Franzen fired a cross-ice pass along to a waiting Datsyuk. His shot went just above off Bryzgalov's glove, off the post, and into the net for his second of the series. Nicklas Lidstrom picked up the second assist.

Moments later, what seemed to be an icing call was negated when Todd Bertuzzi kicked into overdrive and beat Ed Jovanovski to the puck. After Bertuzzi skated behind the net with the puck, he left it for Zetterberg along the near boards. Zetterberg skated around Jovanovski and dumped the puck towards the crease, where it deflected off the back of Bryzgalov and into the net to earn his second point of the game and fifth goal in the playoffs, leading the NHL in playoffs goals. Brad Stuart also picked up an assist on the play.

The Red Wings peppered Bryzgalov with 35 shots.

Player of the Game: Henrik Zetterberg. For reasons that go beyond comprehension, Chuck Pleiness of the Macomb Daily didn't even put Zetterberg in the three stars. Not to dismiss Howard's stellar performance, but Zetterberg is simply on fire right now with seven points in three games.

Having given up home ice advantage in Sunday's 4-2 loss, the Detroit Red Wings will try to keep even with the Phoenix Coyotes in Game 4 of the Western Conference Quarterfinal at Joe Louis Arena.

That loss featured another sloppy defensive effort by the Red Wings. And while there seems to be no move by Mike Babcock to swap Jimmy Howard for Chris Osgood, there has to be some question as to if Howard can win a game by himself (not that he's lost a game by himself). And with Wojtek Wolski scoring in all three games, the Wings need to figure out a solution for the mid-season acquisition.

The good news for the Red Wings: Shane Doan will not play tonight, due to one of those mysterious "upper body injuries."

Game time is 6:30 pm ET on Fox Sports Detroit, Fox Sports Arizona, and TSN (which means if you live in the US, you'll have to have Center Ice or GameCenter outside the two markets). Comment away below.

A game that was not by any stretch of the imagination ended with another wild finish, two-points, and a date with the Phoenix Coyotes.

Brad Stuart scored 3:11 into overtime to give the Detroit Red Wings a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. With that win, the Red Wings, who fell as low as 11th place at one point in the season, finished in fifth place in the Western Conference.

Henrik Zetterberg was tied up with two Blackhawks, nearly drawing a penalty. But he managed to push the puck to Dan Cleary. Cleary waited a moment for Duncan Keith and Antti Niemi to both commit, then put the pass to Stuart. Stuart simply one-timed it to pick up his fourth goal of the season, and wrap up the regular season.

It was a game in which both teams appeared sluggish, despite each needed a win for their playoff positioning. Both goaltenders were very good, with Jimmy Howard picking up his 37th win of the season. He has only lost twice in regulation since the Olympic break. Niemi faced only 21 shots.

Patrick Eaves and Tomas Holmstrom also scored for Detroit, while Dave Bolland and Colin Fraser picked up tallies for Chicago.

Chicago would light the lamp first. Just 11 seconds after Kris Draper sat for interference, Jonathan Toews drove the net, covered with Brad Stuart. His initial attempt was handled, but Bolland quickly handled the puck and slid it in to earn his sixth goal of the year. Patrick Kane grabbed the second assist.

The Red Wings would tie it up in the second. Behind the net, Darren Helm put a pass that Cleary would knock out of the air just before crossing the blue line. Cleary skated in and fired a blast that Niemi managed to stop, but the rebound dribbled out to his right, where Eaves found a wide open net and an easy shot that was his 12th goal of the year.

In the third period, Brian Rafalski pick up a Pavel Datsyuk pass along the near side boards at the blue line. He skated towards the middle of the ice along the blue line and fired a shot that was screened by at least three Blackhawk players, deflected off Holmstrom, and into the net. Niemi barely moved to block the shot, and Holmstrom earned his 25th goal of the season.

But the Blackhawks would counter. Marian Hossa would put a pass towards the crease, where Fraser would have the puck go off his skate and right past Howard for his seventh of the season. Keith picked up the other assist.

Player of the Game: Brad Stuart. The game winner in overtime.

The 82nd and final game of the regular season can be looked at as both important and irrelevant. Both the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks have made the playoffs. The Blackhawks will start at home; the Red Wings will start on the road.

But each team can adjust their playoff seedings depending on how this game, in addition to the Los Angeles Kings game against the Colorado Avalanche starting at the same time, turns out. If Chicago wins, they take the #1 seed away from San Jose on the wins tiebreaker.

For the Red Wings, they simply need to win to take the 5th seed. Anything else and their outcome depends on the Kings/Avs game. See the chart below.

Faceoff is set for 3:00 pm ET. The game is on Fox Sports Detroit and Comcast Sportsnet Chicago. Comment away below.

For a game that was meaningless in terms of making the playoffs, the Detroit Red Wings regular season home finale had more than enough excitement to make up for it.

After two periods that saw the Red Wings seemingly without effort or luck against Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Steve Mason, Detroit lit the lamp three times in 1:16, with two of those goals coming on the power play, to flip a 2-1 deficit to a 4-2 lead.

It turned out they needed all of them, as Columbus scored one more, but not enough to come back. Detroit earned a 4-3 win, enabling them to leapfrog the Los Angeles Kings and tie the Nashville Predators for fifth place in the Western Conference standings at the final horn. The Predators were facing the 

Tomas Holmstrom, Nicklas Lidstrom, and Dan Cleary each scored in that third-period stretch, as part of a crazy sequence that saw the Blue Jackets called for three penalties, including a 10-minute misconduct.

Niklas Kronwall also scored for Detroit.

Jimmy Howard picked up his 35th win of the season, which ties him for ninth in the NHL, and first among rookies. He made 21 saves.

Mason, who made a number of fantastic saves throughout the first 40 minutes, suddenly looked mortal in the final 20 minutes, allowing three goals on 15 shots to get the loss.

The Red Wings jumped out early. Kronwall fired a 35-foot shot that should've been easy for Mason to handle. But Brad Stuart was 15 feet in front of Mason and was engaged with a Blue Jacket player, completely screening him, which meant he didn't move at all to block the shot that went in to his left for the seventh goal of the season. Stuart and Todd Bertuzzi picked up the assists.

The Blue Jackets tied it up. R.J. Umberger took advantage of a dual line change, grabbed the puck center-ice, and drove towards the ice. After spinning around Nicklas Lidstrom, he drove towards the net at put it on the far side past Jimmy Howard. It was his 23rd goal of the year.

Columbus would take the lead later in the first period on a strange play. The Red Wings were trying to clear the puck, when it deflected off Mike Blunden's skate and started moving towards the goal. Both Johan Franzen and Andreas Lilja seemed to think the other player had it, and it skated past them, where Samuel Pahlsson pounded it away for his third goal of the season. Tomas Kana earned his first NHL point on the play.

Then came the barrage. After Blunden was called for a tripping penalty on a debatable call, Kronwall set up Henrik Zetterberg. His shot went off Tomas Holmstrom's skate, which was clearly in the crease, and into the net. Holmstrom picked up his 10th of the season.

After the goal, Umberger started arguing about the fact that there was no call on Holmstrom, and picked up a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. That put the Red Wings back on the power play, and they would capitalize just 40 seconds later. Franzen put a pass to Lidstrom, who connected to pick up his 10th of the season.

Thirty-six seconds later, Darren Helm set up a streaking Cleary, heading towards Steve Mason. He put the blast over the shoulder of Mason to pick up his 15th of the season, with Patrick Eaves getting the second assist. After that, Derick Brassard, who was still giving the officials grief for the original Blunden penalty that started the three-goals-in-76-second, was sent off for 10 minutes.

But just 52 seconds after that, Blunden would take advantage of a Kana pass to get his second career NHL goal of the season to cut the lead back to one. It was both Blunden's and Kana's first multi-point NHL games, Blunden's coming in his 49th game, while Kana's came in his fifth.

The two teams will meet again on Friday night in Columbus.

Player of the game: Niklas Kronwall. With a goal, an assist, and a pair of hits, Kronwall was on fire.

Coming off a disappointing performance against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Detroit Red Wings host their final home game of the regular season against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

With the eight playoff teams set, the battle becomes where the Red Wings will finish. They currently stand seventh, and the loss on Sunday means best they can hope for now is fifth (they would lose the wins tiebreaker to Phoenix even if they won their three remaining games).

Jimmy Howard makes his return to goal tonight after what may have been Chris Osgood's final appearance this year. Pavel Datsuyk has a three game scoring streak coming into tonight. Look for Henrik Zetterberg to try to break out of his seven-game goalless streak (second-longest streak of the year for him).

Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30. The game is on Fox Sports Detroit and Fox Sports Ohio. Please feel free to comment below.

Just 12 seconds into Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Flyers, a neutral-zone turnover led to the puck being on Dan Carcillo's stick to the right of Chris Osgood. He fired what appeared to be a harmless shot towards Osgood, starting his first game since January 27.

Osgood couldn't handle it.

That goal would prove to be the difference, as the Detroit Red Wings saw their 12-game point-earning streak come to an end with a 4-3 loss to a Flyers team that desperately needs any win they can get in their battle for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Meanwhile despite goals from Dan Cleary, Darren Helm, and Pavel Datsyuk, the Red Wings squander one of the two games in hand against the Nashville Predators for the fifth spot in the Western Conference.

Osgood may have made 21 saves, but it was the easy one he missed that could doom any chances for him to redeem himself in the eyes of the coaching staff. Osgood had not won a game in regulation since his 2-0 shutout of the Boston Bruins back on November 3.

The Flyers were chippy from the start, with three different Flyers players getting helmet-removing hits on Datsyuk, Carcillo antagonizing Tomas Holmstrom, and a tentative nature by the Detroit that may have come from playing two games in two days in two cities.

After Carcillo's goal, a sloppy setup by Todd Bertuzzi led to a four-on-two charge by the Flyers. Ian Laperriere (who earned an assist on the Carcillo goal) pushed the puck up, dumped it this time to Kimmo Timonen, who had a wide-open net and didn't miss for his sixth goal, with Brian Boucher getting his first assist of the season.

But the Red Wings would fight back. Niklas Kronwall pushed a bouncing puck towards the crease and Cleary. Cleary's first shot was blocked with the pads by Sebastien Caron. But Cleary remained there and put it back through Caron to earn his 14th.

Then, following a post shot by Cleary and a great second chance by Brian Rafalski, the puck bounced high into the air. After the second bounce, Helm came to a quick stop and fired a backhander that went into the net. It was his 11th of the year.

The Flyers would strike in the first minute of the second period as well. This time, it was a rebound that deflected off a Wings player and went to Claude Giroux. He didn't miss, netting an unassisted tally.

With 2:24 left, Kimmo Timonen found a wide-open Arron Asham to the left of Osgood. Asham put it in forcefully to pick up his 10th of the season. Osgood had absolutely no chance to get to him: he hadn't moved by the time the puck reached Asham.

The Wings would tighten it up in the third. Off a quirky pass, a pair of passes from Henrik Zetterberg and Jason Williams quickly put the puck on Datsyuk's stick, who lit up Caron for his team leading 27th goal of the season and third straight game with a goal.

Caron would ned up with 31 saves for the day to pick up the win.

The Red Wings return home to face the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday.

Player Of The Game: Dan Cleary. A goal and an assist within three minutes during the first period was impressive for the Newfoundlander.

A very busy weekend for the Red Wings concludes as they head to the Wachovia Center to take on the Philadelphia Flyers with the possibility of clinching a playoff spot with a victory.

While the Red Wings seven-game winning streak came to an end in the lost to Nashville yesterday, the 12-game point streak does continue, and the Red Wings are two points behind the Predators with four games to play (and two games in hand).

As Casey mentioned, Detroit will give the start in net to Chris Osgood: his first appearance in net since March 3 against Vancouver and first start since January 27 against Minnesota. In fact: Osgood has not won in regulation since November 3 when he shut out the Boston Bruins in Game 13.

For the Flyers, they're in the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conferece, but only because of the tiebreaker over the New York Rangers.

The game is a 12:30 p.m. ET start on NBC. Please comment below.

The puck got past Columbus Blue Jackets' goaltender Steve Mason and into the net off Todd Bertuzzi's foot, only to be quickly waved off as being kicked in. But the Roger Nielson Video Room in Toronto called for a review.

After a season in which it seemed the Detroit Red Wings couldn't catch a break on video replays, they finally had one go their way when the on-ice official was overruled and the goal counted, giving the Red Wings a 3-1 lead .

It turned out to be a critical review, as R.J. Umberger would score with 1:13 left to cut the lead to 3-2, and the Red Wings would hold on for their seventh straight win.

Tomas Holmstrom and Pavel Datsyuk also scored for Detroit, while Jimmy Howard stopped 20 shots to pick up his 34th win of the season.

The Red Wings tightened their grip on sixth place in the Western Conference, but were unable to make up ground as the Nashville Predators came back with three straight goals to win 3-2 over the St. Louis Blues.

The Wings would strike first and early. Datsyuk took the puck along the boards to the left of Mason. He put a backhander on the stick of Holmstrom. Holmstrom put a four-footer past Mason to earn his 22nd of the season just 2:21 into the game.

But a bad turnover cost the Red Wings: Howard's pass behind the net towards Brad Stuart was caught by Derek Dorsett. He tipped it to a streaking Andrew Murray, who came in hard and beat Howard far side to get his fifth of the season.

In the second period, with Grant Clitsome in the penalty box, the Red Wings would capitalize. Holmstrom would put the puck on Datsyuk's stick on the left side of Mason. Datsyuk, spun around, skated across the middle of the ice, waited for a clearing in the ice, then fired a shot that went over Mason's right shoulder and hit the top of the net. Datsyuk's 25th of the goal extends his team lead, and Johan Franzen picked up the second assist.

Early in the third, a Henrik Zetterberg shot towards the net deflected off of Bertuzzi's skate and into the net. The officials on the ice waved it off initally, ruling that the puck went in on a kicking motion, but after a lengthy delay, the video review room in Toronto felt otherwise, giving Bertuzzi his 18th of the season, with Brad Stuart also getting an assist.

Finally, as Patrick Eaves sat for hooking and with Mason pulled for an extra attacker, Umberger tipped in a pass from Fedor Tyutin to get his 22nd of the year and tighten the lead with 1:13 left. But Columbus couldn't get anything else past Howard, and the Wings walked away with the victory.

The Red Wings will face the Predators on Saturday at Joe Louis Arena.

Player of the game: Pavel Datsyuk. Yes, both he and Holmstrom picked up a point and an assist tonight. But we'll be talking about the Datsyuk goal for a while.

Last year at this time, the talk was about how the Columbus Blue Jackets were striving to make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, while the Detroit Red Wings were setting up for their playoff run. Now everything's shifted down a notch: it's the Red Wings who on the bottom half of the playoff seedings, while Columbus sits in next-to-last place, running out the clock on a season that has imploded upon itself.

And we get to see this three times in the final six games.

The hottest team in the NHL puts their six-game winning streak on the line as they face off against the Blue Jackets at Joe Louis Arena. The Red Wings are 9-0-1 in their last ten, and 12-2-1 since the Olympic break. Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets sit in last place in the Central.

Faceoff is at 7:30. The game is on Fox Sports Detroit and Fox Sports Ohio. Comment away below.

Cobo Arena in Downtown Detroit. You can see the wall on the left side of the photo. The working pressbox is on the right hand side, below the yellow seats

In 1995, I worked for a team called the Motor City Mustangs. They were a roller hockey team that played during the summer at Cobo Arena downtown. Shockingly the team only existed for one season. Apparently people didn't want to sit indoors on a beautiful day at a grungy, 35-year-old arena with the appeal of a high-school auditorium watching a winter sport played on some plastic court. Who knew?

My job was "Press Box Manager." This sounds like a very dramatic job. It would've been had we had anyone to sit in the press box. Yes, there was a radio deal (Mike Stone actually called our games on WDFN), but other than Stoney and whomever did commentary (I can't remember), it was rare that we had anyone else in the press box. I, however, was always prepared: I created these 18x24 wipe-off boards to keep track of goals and penalties and shots. I had pencils and notepads and all sorts of other stuff just in case we actually had someone show up. When ESPN2 stopped by for their one and only visit, I worked as a stat guy on their crew with these 18x24 boards. They weren't nearly as appreciative as I thought they should be. In retrospect, the phrase "overzealous" comes to mind.

The most legendary name on the Mustangs was their coach: Mark Howe, son of Gordie. The Mustangs even drafted Gordie, though he didn't sign (another shock, I know). But with Mark behind the bench, Gordie would often show up for games, sitting in the press box on the opposite side of the arena, always alone.

For those who have never seen Cobo Arena, there's seating on only three sides of the area. The fourth side (against the Detroit River) has a wall. This makes it great for concerts, but kind of awkward for sporting events.

One game, I went up to the press box level 90 minutes before the game to set up when I found something.

Gordie Howe.

"Good evening, Mr. Howe," I said to him. He seemed startled to see me.

"Hi." He looked around for a moment. "I think I'm in the wrong press box."

"Well," I said, "this is the working press box."

"Oh. Then I'm definitely in the wrong one. I'm supposed to be over there." And he pointed to where he usually sits.

"Well, let me see what I can do," I told him.

The working press box was on the other side of the arena from the locker rooms and offices, so it would've taken me forever to get back down there to ask. But there was an usher/security person who stopped fans from getting up to the press level (to be honest, they were also there to stop fans from getting to the third level, since we never had enough fans to open that level).

"Gordie Howe's up in the press box, but he's supposed to be on the other side."

"You can take him around to the other side of the arena on the wall side."

This confused me. "The wall side?"

"Yeah. Go get him and I'll let you in."

I accepted the offer and went back up to get Mr. Howe.

(To be clear: I was simply being a staff member helping the dad of the coach here. Do not interpret this as Mr. Howe being unable to do anything for himself.)

"The usher's going to let us in to the wall side of the arena and we'll head over to your side," I told him.

He was game. We walked out of the press box, where the usher opened a nondescript door.

It was dark. No, scratch that: it was black.

We stepped in, and the usher closed the door.

As our eyes adjusted, Mr. Howe made a left and started walking.

Now this corridor was clearly never used for anything but storage. The only light in the room, I discovered, was from these glass panels that aren't really visible when you're in the arena, but provided just a little ambient light from the arena itself. That light showed that there was a bunch of crap in this place. It was not neatly kept. And I was escorting a 67-year-old man through there.

I grabbed for anything, my arms flailing in front of me to try to avoid stumbling into anything. I couldn't see him. All I knew was that I could hear two sets of footsteps, which meant there was two of us.

And then he hit a chair. I heard an absolutely clear obscenity from him.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he replied.

And at that moment, I realized that he was as blindly wandering through this as I was.

"You want some help?"

"No, I'm okay."

Then he hit something else. Another obscenity. And now he's hot at the situation he's in.

And I thought, "Gordie Howe is gonna hit something, fall awkwardly, hit his head, and I'm the only person around."

The next thought: "This is beyond absurd."

And then I wanted to laugh. At that moment, one part of my brain was afraid of what might happen. The other found this absolutely hilarious.

It felt like I was on an epic march. There was no way to gauge how much further to go. He kept stepping into things, and was now just cursing up a storm. And with each audible word, with each collision, I am afraid I am going to burst our in laughter, which would cause him to turn around, find me, and beat me senseless. And I'm running into things and not making a sound. I could've stepped on a rake Sideshow Bob-style and not even flinched.

If Gordie Howe could walk through this corridor, I surely could.

Still going through this corridor, we finally see the outline of light surrounding a door. He reaches for the door and opens it. We've somehow miraculously made it through to the other side of the arena.

With the new light, I'm able to quickly scurry towards it. Now we had to figure out how to get to the press box from the door.

"I think we go down that ramp," I said, "since we came up a ramp to get to the other side."

Sure enough, at the bottom of the ramp was a curtained-off area, and behind that curtain was the press box.

"Thanks for the help," he said.

"You're welcome, Mr. Howe," I replied. I headed back down, past the usher doing the same job as the other usher, and down the seating bowl to the floor. I made the turn towards the seating bowl. My coworker Debbie was in the office, doing last-minute prep work.

"I just took Gordie Howe through the walls of Cobo Arena," I told her.

She looked up. "You did what?"

"Gordie" (you'll note that we're now on a first-name basis) "was over in the press box, and the usher showed me how to cut through the river-side wall of the arena."

"There's a passageway back there?"

"Yeah. And I don't think anyone's cleaned it out since the Seger show in 75."

She sighed. "The things you learn."

There was concern that the Detroit Red Wings may not have had enough time to recharge after their emotional win against the Pittsburgh Penguins Monday with the St. Louis Blues coming into town.

The Blues, after all, had gone 4-0-1 in the first five meetings against the Red Wings this year, and are desperately trying to get into the playoffs.

But despite outshooting the Red Wings 32-24, Ty Conklin gave up a pair of weak goals and Valtteri Filppula scored the last two goals of the game as Detroit beat St. Louis for the first time in regulation this year 4-2.

Filppula also picked up an assist, giving him eight points in the past three games. In addition, Henrik Zetterberg scored a goal and an assist to give him seven points in the past three. With Todd Bertuzzi picking up the fourth goal and an assist, the line of Filppula, Zetterberg, and Bertuzzi have combined for 20 points over the past three games.

Jimmy Howard, starting his 20th straight game for the Red Wings, made 22 saves to pick up his 30th win of the season. He surrendered goals to Paul Kariya and Jay McClement.

The Red Wings are now 9-2-1 since the Olympic break. They have 87 points, and with the Calgary Flames idle tonight, their lead is four points for the final Western Conference playoff spot. The Blues are now 10 points out of eighth with just nine games left.

The Blues got on the board first. Kariya took a pass from David Backes came streaming up the near side of the ice and split Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski. Moving towards the middle, he eluded a desperate last attempt by Zetterberg to disrupt him and put the puck though Howard's five-hole to earn his 17th goal of the season, and his sixth point against the Red Wings this season. Erik Johnson picked up the second assist on the goal.

But as the fans were still waiting to get into their seats to start the second period, the Red Wings tied it up. Zetterberg shook off Barret Jackman and pushed a weak backhander towards Conklin. The shot went off the inside of Conklin's right leg and crossed the goal line, but didn't even get to the back of the net. Zetterberg picked up his 17th of the season just 26 seconds into the period, with Todd Bertuzzi and Brian Rafalski picking up the assists.

Four minutes later, Zetterberg again fired the puck, but this time it was into a scrum in front of Conklin. The puck went wide, where it went off Bertuzzi's right ankle, bounced off a St. Louis skater, and dribbled into the net for Bertuzzi's 17th of the season. Filppula earned the second assist.

In the third, the Blues would come back. McClement's shot from 20 feet out went through the legs of Brad Stuart and just to the left of Howard's glove on a shot that clearly was a bad break for the Red Wings. For McClement, it was his 10th, with assists to David Perron and Mike Weaver.

But with 6:49 remaining, a Rafalski shot from past the blue line was easily stopped by Conklin, but he failed to control the rebound that bounced in front of him. Filppula came in quickly, skated to Conklin's left, and fired a backhander into an open net for his 10th of the season. Filppula would score an empty net goal with 11 seconds remaining to seal the deal.

The Red Wings face the Minnesota Wild on Friday at Joe Louis Arena.

Player of the game: Valterri Filppula. A pair of goals furthers his torrid pace.

Coming off their 3-1 beatdown of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Detroit Red Wings will face their Central Division rival St. Louis Blues at Joe Louis Arena.

It's the final game between the two teams in the regular season, and if the teams continue in their current directions, it'll be the last meeting of the year. Detroit is 5-0-1 in their last six, while St. Louis lost in heartbreaking fashion 3-2 on Sunday to Nashville. The Blues sit eight points behind the Red Wings for the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The Blues have owned the Red Wings this year, with their only loss against them in overtime on November 28. But it's the Red Wings who are suddenly on fire.

The game is scheduled for a 7:30 start on Fox Sports Detroit and Fox Sports Midwest. Comment away below

And...breathe.

The Red Wings squandered a two-goal lead to the Buffalo Sabres, and as the game went to overtime, there was a definite sense of fear that, while the team had earned a point against a non-conference opponent, that team needed to get two points.

Fortunately, it took them just 31 seconds.

Brian Rafalski put a one-timer past Ryan Miller to take advantage of the fourth power play of the night and give the Red Wings a 3-2 win, reclaiming the eighth playoff spot from the Calgary Flames, who were idle Saturday night.

It was the ninth straight game with a power play goal for Detroit, and their 12th straight home game.

Pavel Datsyuk and Patrick Eaves also scored for the Red Wings, overcoming a pair of goals from Jochen Hecht.

The Wings jumped out early. Johan Franzen took full advantage of the Joe Louis Arena boards to fire a hard pass to Datsyuk, who was skating in towards Miller. Datsyuk fired a hard 12 footer that went past Miller for his team-leading 21st of the season and his fourth goal in five games. Niklas Kronwall picked up the other assist.

The Red Wings kept their foot on the gas: 73 seconds later, Darren Helm put the puck on Eaves stick as he crossed the far blue-line. Eaves kicked it into high gear, held on as Craig Rivet stuck his stick into Eaves skates to try to break it up, and put the puck through an exposed Miller for his 10th of the season.

But the two-goal lead wouldn't last long. Jason Pominville's shot was blocked by Jimmy Howard, but as seems to be a recurring theme, Howard was sloppy with the rebound, which put the puck right on Hecht's stick. He didn't miss, and the lead was cut to 2-1.

In the second period, Hecht struck again. Tim Connolly's shot was blocked by Howard, and the puck squirted out to Pominville. Pominville struggled to handle it, but Hecht took a swing at it. The puck deflected off Howard's right shoulder and into the net to tie the game. It was Hecht's 16th of the season and his second two-goal game of the year (his first was on New Year's Day against Atlanta).

With 1:13 left in regulation, Tyler Myers flipped the puck over the glass in the defensive zone, earning a delay of game penalty. That penalty carried over to overtime. With the play securely in the Wings offensive zone, Nicklas Lidstrom set up Rafalski, who wound up and beat Miller to his right side for his sixth goal of the year and his first game-winner of the year.

The Red Wings will face Calgary in the final game of their regular season series on Monday night.

Player of the game: Brian Rafalski. A game-winner in overtime? That's a player of the game.

The Detroit Red Wings wrap up their three-game home stand as they face Ryan Miller (brother of the Red Wings' Drew Miller) and the Buffalo Sabres.

The Wings are coming off a big 5-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild Tuesday night. That win was tempered, however, as the Calgary Flames kept pace with a 2-0 victory over Ottawa later in the evening. That leaves the Red Wings a point behind for the final playoff spot with 15 games left. The Flames are off tonight.

One of the keys tonight: seeing if Henrik Zetterberg can keep it going after head coach Mike Babcock mixed up his lines. Zetterberg had a goal and two assists in Thursday's game and seemed to look more like himself than he has in a while.

Game time is 7:00 pm ET. The game is on FS Detroit and MSG. Comment away below.

You know your team had a good night when the guy with a pair of goals has to settle for second star of the game.

Johan Franzen's sixth and seventh of the season fell behind Henrik Zetterberg's goal and two assists as the Detroit Red Wings played a full sixty minutes to get a 5-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild.

The Wings had a 3-0 lead after 10:15, but didn't let up as they've been wont to do lately, and it showed. Zetterberg, who seemed to be struggling over the past few games, played strong over his 19:46 on the ice. Drew Miller picked up his first career short-handed goal. And Tomas Holmstrom scored from 50 feet away.

After a pair of third-period letdowns, the Red Wings kept the intensity going into the third, outshooting the Wild 8-5.

The Red Wings also kept their home power play goal streak going: it's now at 12 straight home games.

Jimmy Howard made 21 saves to further his Calder Trophy campaign. Josh Harding, who got the start after Niklas Backstrom sat out with what the Wild reported as a lower body injury.

To add injury to insult, Guillaume Latendresse was taken to a hospital for observation after Brian Rafalski hit him with a high-stick just underneath the bottom of the helmet. Latendresse fell to the ground in pain, but was able to leave the ice under his own power with assistance from a Wild trainer.

The Red Wings jumped out early. On a passing series that made it look like a power play, the puck ended up on Franzen's stick. His hard shot hit Holmstrom and trickled into the net. Brett Lebda and Holmstrom picked up assists.

With Mikko Koivu serving his second penalty of the period, the Wings scored what may be their oddest goal of the year. Zetterberg made a setup pass to Holmstrom, who was out by the faceoff dot. Holmstrom made what appeared to be a dump in, but his "shot" went off Nick Schultz's foot, and Harding wasn't expecting the change of direction. Holmstrom's 19th of the season was a 50-footer, with assists to Zetterberg and Nicklas Lidstrom.

Fifty-six seconds later, the Wings would strike again. This time it was Kris Draper who fired a shot in that Harding handled, but Patrick Eaves managed to grab the rebound and skate around the back of the net, where he found a wide open Zetterberg with three Wild players near him, but not covering him. Zetterberg buried it to earn his 19th of the season.

With only 11 seconds left in the period, the Wild got on the board. Former University of Michigan player Andrew Ebbett's shot towards the crease deflected off of Brad Stuart's foot and past Howard for his 24th of the year. Martin Havlat and Marek Zidlicky each picked up a point.

In the second period, the Red Wings took advantage of a Miller takeaway on Cam Barker in the Wild offensive zone to create a two-on-none with Rafalski serving a penalty. Valtteri Filppula appeared to overskate the goal, but managed to put on the brakes and pass the puck back to Miller. The puck went off Miller's chest and into the net for his first career short-handed goal and eighth of the season. Niklas Kronwall earned the second assist.

Finally, in the third, a neutral-zone turnover was retrieved by Zetterberg, who dumped the puck to Franzen. He skated in and put a wrister in the back of the net for his second of the night, seventh of the season, and sixth in the nine games since returning from the injured list.

The Red Wings host the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena.

Player Of The Game: Henrik Zetterberg. Beyond the three points, Zetterberg seemed to have his groove back for the first time since the Olympic break tonight. The team needs him to perform to have a chance to make the playoffs.

The Red Wings try to put the third-period giveaway to the Flames in their rear mirror as they face the Minnesota Wild tonight at Joe Louis Arena.

The Wild come in after losing to Florida 3-2 on Tuesday night: a bizarre game that saw Minnesota held to only 11 shots in the game, but still held a two-goal lead that they proceeded to give up.

The teams have split the season series at a game apiece, with both games in Minnesota. Tonight's game is on NHL Network in the US, Fox Sports Detroit and Fox Sports North. Faceoff is 7:30 pm. Comment away below.