DET vs DAL

DALLAS - Nicklas Lidtsrom appeared to be dabbling in hyperbole last week when he speculated that maybe this was the best team he had ever played on.

After all, the 38-year-old Norris Trophy winner has a string of teams laden with Hall-of-Famers in his Detroit past that includes three Stanley Cup champions, and a bushel full of Presidents' Trophies.

But after the Red Wings' 5-2 dissection of the Dallas Stars Monday, Lidstrom's claim seems a little more real.

Detroit won its ninth consecutive game Monday - and did it in a dominating manner. The Red Wings showed they are tough, skilled and smart and as they batted back the Stars' best offensive efforts, picked their pockets and counter-attacked with relative ease, and then sidestepped some huge hit attempts and left the Stars dazed and dizzied.

Stars captain Brenden Morrow may have a serious left shoulder/arm/wrist injury after trying to kill Brad Stuart in the third period. Stuart simply sidestepped Morrow and allowed him to launch himself into the boards. It was a microcosm of the series, a metaphor of struggling in quicksand - the harder the Stars try, it seems, the deeper they get.

"We got running around looking for hits, just like in Game 2…I think I ran into the boards four or five times,'' Morrow said. "They've got awareness, they all sense it. I tried to hit (Pavel) Datsyuk last game and ended up crashing into (Jere) Lehtinen. Their hockey sense is really good, and we're in for a big ride here.''

Fact is the ride might be over. The Red Wings have been riding Johan Franzen and Tomas Holmstrom with battles in front of the net so far against the Stars, but Franzen is out with concussion-like symptoms, and Marty Turco neutralized Holmstrom in Game 3. So what did the Red Wings do? They got a hat trick from Datsyuk and a huge game from Henrik Zetterberg and scored five times on breakaways or goals in transition.

"There were some super goals tonight - nothing Marty could even do about those," said Detroit goalie Chris Osgood. "I mean, those two (Datsyuk and Zetterberg) are superstars, but the good thing about them is they're complete players, too. They back-checked and pick-pocketed some guys even when it was 4-2 and 5-2 with a few minutes left in the game. So it just goes to show you we have no selfish guys. That's why we keep winning."

Morrow says he'll be ready

The Stars are missing Jere Lehtinen (leg), Stu Barnes (concussion-like symptoms) and Philippe Boucher (hip strain), and saw Brenden Morrow (shoulder/arm/wrist) and Mike Modano (bell rung) get shaken up in Game 3. Both players returned to play and finished Game 3, but Morrow was holding his arm straight and said he had a shoulder injury.

"That's what the medical staff if there for, to try to get me ready for Game 4,'' Morrow said. "We've got a good medicine cabinet and I'll be well taken care of.''

Datsyuk, Zetterberg raise level

Datsyuk and Zetterberg are finalists for the Selke Trophy as best defensive forwards in the NHL. Yet, they also are great offensive players. That's what's amazing to teammates and opponents alike.

"We didn't have much answer for them tonight,'' Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "Those two are a rare breed, because they're a line that you look at that you should be checking, but in actual fact they're a checking line. So those players are a rare couple players.''

Ironically, Detroit coach Mike Babcock said the offensive outbreak came when his team's best players actually were allowed to play offence.

"What happened tonight is, at home they played against Ribeiro and Morrow against those guys all the time,'' Babcock said. "So instead of fooling around and trying to do that (on the road), we just decided that we were going to play our five guys together, with Nik (Lidstrom) and (Brian) Rafalski, get the puck going, and we probably end up with (Valtteri Filppula) head to head with those guys, and with (Brad) Stuart and (Niklas) Kronwall. When you don't have to worry about chasing other guys around and you just get after the puck, sometimes it's fun, too.''

Osgood in rarefied air

People can call Detroit goalie Chris Osgood a caretaker who doesn't have to be spectacular, but he fills the role very nicely. Osgood won his ninth consecutive playoff game this season, which is the longest playoff win streak in the NHL since Patrick Roy won 11 straight with Montreal in 1993. He also tied Hall of Famer Terry Sawchuk's Detroit franchise record for career playoff victories at 47.

He said it

"What makes him good is his lowest level is really high.''
-Henrik Zetterberg on linemate Pavel Datsyuk

He said it, part 2

.“We don't think it's a fluke that we're here. We beat some good teams to get here. They're a great hockey team, but we believe we're a great hockey team too.''
-Stars captain Brenden Morrow