This is going to be one of those pictures that future nieces/nephews/grandchildren will laugh at.

After I made the (relatively unpopular, and justifiably so) decision this week in my Offseason Guide to suggest that Detroit should maybe go with Mattias Ritola under Drew Miller, Miller decides to slap me right across the face in the form of a really clutch goal and a terrifying shootout winner. Terrifying in that Detroit literally was out of reasonable shootout options. There was just nobody left that you could justify shooting next. Maybe I would have gone with Justin Abdelkader, but there was nothing about the finish in anybody's game that would have made them a leading candidate to shoot next.

It was also terrifying in that it was a long shootout, and script that the game was following was exactly like a handful this season where we blew a 3rd period lead and then lost in the shootout... Something raising countless arguments, like what's worse, blowing the lead, or having such a talented team that's so bad in shootouts?

Miller was never on my bad side. I really like his game, and I appreciate the hard work he's putting in every night because the Wings sorely need that right now. I was just thinking if nobody retires, since he was just a short-term fix it wouldn't be a terrible thing if he had to be let go. He's certainly stating his case though. I think all of the six goals (and certainly the shootout winner) have come at pretty big times for Detroit. That's nothing to sneeze at. Those are qualities absolutely required in Red Wings' players. With the likes of Kirk Maltby on the 4th line the past few seasons, we've forgotten how important it is to get timely goals from 4th liners. Miller's on the 2nd line now, but a healthy Detroit likely puts him on the 4th line. For now, like I basically said before, I wouldn't be upset if he came back and I wouldn't be devastated if they let him go. If there wasn't someone like Ritola we'd have to let go, Miller would be a lock to come back in my eyes.

On the note of Wings making me look bad, I could have used a little big more from Jimmy Howard. I took a pretty pro-Jimmah position in ripping Chris Osgood, mainly his unprofessional attitude. It was not entirely his fault that Detroit lost, but I brought up the point about a goalie stepping up to seal a game in the third. Naturally, Jimmy didn't seal a lead in the 3rd yesterday. Like Osgood, he can't be faulted entirely on any of the goals. However, Jimmy did step up and make some monster saves in the shootout and for the duration of the 3rd when the Wings took their foot off the gas a bit. He got the win -- which is all that matters. I wouldn't say a thing about Osgood had he won that game.

It's a shame that it went to overtime, but I think there's more good than bad to take out of recent games. Detroit has absolutely looked like the better team in each game since the NY Islanders "incident," which is really important. More important right now is winning. It is refreshing that even with some essential players on the shelf, this team is competing with and at times dominating the best teams in the league. So long as they aren't blowing too many games against weak teams, we should be in good shape.

Keeping it short today. I was wondering if anyone else noticed that Nick Lidstrom is continuing to round into excellent form. Timing could not be any better. Todd Bertuzzi rebounded very nicely after costing Detroit the game on Tuesday -- good news for a player who nobody considers to be all that strong mentally. Ville Leino had a pretty decent game in terms of finally creating some scoring chances, but there were no results other than sadness... especially that shootout attempt -- aren't Finns supposed to be good at that?

Unfortunately, the black sheep of the Miller family, Ryan Miller, isn't as great as his brother and lost his 3rd period lead and shootout, in a game that dropped Detroit from 7th in the standings to 8th. Five points back of 4th place with a game in hand. One point back of Los Angeles with an unimaginably crucial head-to-head, win-in-regulation-PLEASE game on Saturday. Suddenly, tearing apart the team at the deadline and firing the coach is seeming like a bad idea... This is just a friendly reminder to all the folks that frequent my comments.