Just a few quick thoughts on the game while the Lions are incompetent on the screen in front of me.

When the Wings were struggling, Zetterberg and Datsyuk were not Detroit's best players. After a few games, Zetterberg turned on the gas and he hasn't really slowed down. Datsyuk has been spotty, but more consistent of late. Both have been the best two players on the ice in the past two games. And when you've got two of the best in the league every night, it doesn't really matter how many 2nd line players you've lost in the past five months.

Since he's had three starts in a row, I think Jimmy Howard has shown more of his true colors. He probably won't ever be a starter, but he's reliable. He was sensational against Vancouver. I swear that half the shots he saw were deflections, and I was pleased to see that even the biggest Howard haters didn't find some way to fault him on the off-the-skate deflection goal. A little shakier last night -- the Lupul goal was very weak and I don't think it hit a skate like Mickey Redmond said it did.

Other than that, he got beat on a huge Ericsson mistake, a cross-ice pass, and a Getzlaf blast. I think people seem to think he's at fault for the Getzlaf goal because it went under his arm, but there's no way that's true. It's five-on-three and that's one of the best shooters in the league just teeing off on the puck from the top of the circle. Whether or not that one went in, there's no way Getzlaf isn't going to score if he's given enough room to take that shot a few times.

Drew Miller looks pretty good out there. He's a much better two-way player than I gave him credit for. He's making all kinds of smart plays in every zone, actually had a few decent scoring chances in his time too. I'm interested to see if he'll keep it up, but I think he's a better fit on the 4th line than May and Maltby. Abdelkader has too much offensive upside to be stuck between those two, Miller is great on the cycle and has good hands, I wouldn't be shocked to see that line get a goal soon.

Ericsson got tremendously unlucky that his pass hit Getzlaf's stick, but still, I'm not sure where he wanted to go with that puck. The boards are the better option there, I think. He's starting to improve, but has to minimize those types of mistakes. He's been throwing his weight around a little more, but he's still too big to just be poking at everybody like he does.

That's about it for this one. 10-3-3 since coming back from Sweden, 19 goals in the past three games -- not too bad. We're, gasp, sixth in the conference now and only one point back of the division. Suddenly, all this garbage about the Wings not being elite looks funny, again.