Did you guys and gals see that? The third period was not stressful. That's the first time in like... forever. No stress. Just finishing. Sixty minutes. Absolutely wonderful. Writing in fragments.

That was easily one of the most complete efforts from the team this year, and definitely one over the past couple months. They looked good in all three periods, even in the 3rd when the Wild defensemen were really pinching hard. They got a couple breaks, every goal they scored counted (I was worried on Miller's), what more could you ask for?

How about some bullet points?

• I haven't been too hard on Henrik Zetterberg, but after watching him tonight I wish I was a little harsher. He was a completely different player tonight. Larry Murphy worded it perfectly (shocking, eh?) after the game. He's playing like a top 50 player in the league, but he needs to play like a top ten player.
• Speaking of which, there are only two, maybe three players I'd take over the Pavel Datsyuk that's shown up for Detroit over the past ten games or so. It's a crime that people are talking about him not deserving the Selke this year -- just because his point production is down.
• I really think, if healthy, Johan Franzen is a 50 goal scorer. Maybe I just forgot about it because we went 50+ games without him, but I feel like as he gains confidence he's really not afraid to try the fancy moves that he displayed all game long tonight. Of course, this is a lot easier to write than it is to do. I just think if he played 82 games, he could pot 50.
• Not a whole lot of talk about Nick Lidstrom lately, eh? I'm glad the $13.4 million Detroit has invested in their top pairing is finally starting to click on a regular basis and look like the most dangerous pairing out there, offensively, once again.
• Now that the star players are starting to show up, it would be nice to know what Dan Cleary and Todd Bertuzzi are doing out there.
• Tomas Holmstrom has been playing really well off the puck. He's always been one of, if not the, best puck retriever in the league just getting out into the corner and getting it back to the point. But I noticed both last game and tonight that he's taking shots from the high slot area too, probably because that's just about the only place that he won't get called for goalie interference. But I can't say that for sure, you never know.
• It's getting to the point where I'm actually thrilled the Wings go shorthanded because they've been putting on a penalty kill cliche clinic. By that I mean, all that stuff you always hear a good PK needs (sticks in the passing lane, sacrifice your body, clear the front of the net, use the glass), Detroit's penalty kill has been doing.
• I think the only other player I'd like to see give a little bit more is Niklas Kronwall. He doesn't seem to be holding onto the puck as long as he's capable of.
• Battle of the Miller brothers on Saturday, bring it on.