Bertuzzi, Revisited.

The Red Wings win their fifth straight on the stick of...Todd Bertuzzi? Yeah that's right. The big power forward looked more like a light finesse player in the shoot out tonight, as he dazzled the Coyotes goalie with a spin move and backhand to the top shelf. (Don't be breaking out the plans to remake The Cutting Edge just yet though, at least not until he pulls off a triple Lutz while still keeping the puck moving forward in a legal manner.) It was the only goal scored in the shootout and the only one the Red Wings needed for a good end to a quick road trip. The Wings needed a good end because they are currently playing .500 hockey on the road, suffering 13 of their 16 losses on the road. In the next four days, Columbus and St. Louis come to the Joe to visit, and hopefully the Wings will extend their franchise record 15 game home win streak to 17.

Then it's back on the road, swinging through Canada, at the Habs, Flames, Canucks, Oil, and ending up in sunny Phoenix again. This road trip should be better than the last time the Wings swooped through the Great White North, when they dropped games to the Flames and Canucks.

These last two points are probably all that is keeping Mike Babcock sane right now, as they were the points that put the Wings on top of the NHL. How does a team play .500 ball on the road and still lead the NHL?? Even more perplexing is how do you go 0-5 on the power play and still have to resort to the shootout to win? Especially at Phoenix, where the Red Wings practically enjoy home ice advantage? Somebody also needs to check that net for regulation sized posts, too. I think the Wings hit the goalpost about 5 times, including a play where Filppula shot, hit the post and the puck rebounds right to Bertuzzi, who promptly hit the other one. Zetterberg hit it at least twice. If the bounces were to go Detroit's way, that game is 7-2 at the end rather than OT and a shootout.

Oh, and by the way, the Wings have a few other things going for them. Like a +45 goal differential, second only to Bostons staggering +71. For a while, the Bruins were putting up football scores, including a 5 game run where they scored 5 or more in each game. But they are not at the top of the NHL now are they? How about a goalie with a .926 save percentage and a 1.98 goals against average? Jimmy Howard is putting up Veznia-like numbers, and he's only getting better. He's got 101 wins over the past three seasons, and his third season is just barely halfway through. Howard is on pace to win 44 games this season, not far from the record of 48. How about having only two regular starters on the "minus" side of the plus/minus rating? Holmstrom and Kronwall are both -1. Everyone else is in the plus, some by over 20. One of those players is a certain power forward named Todd Bertuzzi, at +21.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

FOR Kenny: The Rangers lost to the Crosby-less, Staal-less, flight-less Penguins 4-1. Really? The Penguins? Super. A team that is 3 points above the cut and playing with most of their AHL affiliate in Penguins sweaters. The Rangers didn't even get a shot on net until 9:35 in the first, but it was the third period that killed them. It looked like the Macy's thanksgiving parade to the penalty box, including a 10 minute misconduct. Even though there were 32 combined penalty minutes in the game, each team only got two power plays each. Oh, and Michael Del Zotto needs to climb up to the jumbotron and retrieve his garters, which were deposited there when Malkin scorched his ass one-on-one midway through the third. Even the fight was lame. I mean, Stu Bickel and Eric Tangradi? I thought it would be pretty good, two big guys going at it. After Bickel threw a couple haymakers, they resorted to hugging and doing the 16 year old prom dance shuffle, probably discussing where the next Wilson-Phillips concert was going to be held. SO, the Rangers spend exactly three days on top of the NHL, only to be overtaken.

By the Detroit Red Wings.