Two Red Wings stars, along with Holmstrom, form team’s top line

No matter the pre-season plans to keep them apart, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk seemed destined by fate, injuries and their ability to overwhelm opponents to keep returning to the same line.

All three factors have combined again early this season and it was just too tempting for Wings coach Mike Babcock not to watch the duo work their magic with the perfect foil in Tomas Holmstrom.

“I changed my mind about 15 times and then I decided that’s just what I was going to do,” said Babcock, before re-uniting the line three games into the season.

“I’ve got to get Pavel shooting the puck. I think Pav is a way better player when he shoots the puck. I thought playing with (Zetterberg) he’d get more opportunity to shoot.”

The line combined has combined for 14 goals and 36 points through nine games and is a plus-12.

Zetterberg has grown used to being shifted around to help spark his linemates.
His nomadic existence in the Wings’ lineup certainly hasn’t affected his ability to generate points and the assignment is one both he and Datsyuk relish.

“We’ve played a lot of games together, so we know where the other guy is,” Zetterberg said. “It’s easy to get back and find each other again.”

Certainly, Zetterberg is making it look easy this year.

Through nine games, Zetterberg leads the league in scoring with seven goals and 17 points while sitting second in the league with 42 shots.

Photos by Tom Turrill Through the season’s first nine games, Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg leads the league in scoring with seven goals and 17 points.

“It’s always nice to get some points up on the board,” Zetterberg said. “I got a few easy assists and you’ve got to be happy when those come.”

Last year, Babcock waited until late November before he created the line. He feared putting all his eggs in one basket. However, there has been no one able to slow down the line when it’s been together.

It was easily the best unit in the league last year until Zetterberg got hurt and they’ve picked right up where they left off again this season.

While all three bring their own unique gift to the line, Zetterberg has emerged as the man who stirs the drink. He never wastes a shift and the moment his skates hit the ice, one can sense the possibility something electric could happen.

“(Zetterberg) is smart and he’s competitive,” said Babcock, who moved Valtteri Filppula’s locker next to Zetterberg as part of his apprenticeship process. “He’s the perfect player if you’re a kid and you
want a player to watch because he does all the littlethings right.”

More impressively, Zetterberg has a flair for the dramatic in his own zone as well as on the attack. 

His ability to catch a Phoenix forward and erase a breakaway in the Wings 5-2 win to complete their recent four-game, western road trip is a typical example of the defensive diligence both he and Datysuk demonstrate on a regular basis.

“We’re fortunate that our top scorers are also are best defensive people,” Babcock said.

With the Datysuk line carrying the offensive load in the early going, the Wings supporting cast members have been able to take the time required to find their games.

As the Wings completed their longest road trip of the year with a 3-1 record, that supporting cast was coming to life offensively.

Niklas Kronwall, Kirk Maltby, Brett Lebda, Jiri Hudler and Matt Ellis have all scored their first goals of the year. In Ellis’s case, his was also his first NHL goal and proved the game winner against the Sharks.

In addition, Detroit has gotten a great start out of Kris Draper who enjoyed a five-game goal-scoring streak, the longest of his career. Draper was also tied for the league-lead with two game-winning goals in the first nine games.

“We’ve started a lot better than we did last year,” said Zetterberg. “Our power play has been really good, compared to last year.”

While the Wings were initially concerned that their power play was producing a disproportional amount of their offence, those fears have eased somewhat. Detroit has now scored 21 of its 32 goals at even strength.

Ironically, for a team that was more concerned about finding enough offense while its young forwards found their way, Detroit’s problems have had more to do with poor decision-making, defensive breakdowns and most recently taking an abundance of penalties.

Zetterberg feels Detroit is giving teams goals more than the opposition is breaking down the Wings’ defense.

“Its one thing we have to take a look at,” said Zetterberg. “We have to be more careful with the puck. The good thing is teams haven’t been outplaying us. If we take care of those things we’ll be alright.”

Detroit captain Nick Lidstrom went further, blaming the Wings’ defensive lapses for keeping teams in contests.

“I think we’re playing well offensively,” Lidstrom said. “Defensively we can do a better job, sort it out better in our end.”

The Wings have done a better job of sorting that problem out lately and Babcock said such issues are to be expected early in the season as teams figure out their rosters and the league’s pecking order begins to emerge.

“I’ve said in the first 20 games there’s more of that because no one has figured out their place yet,” Babcock said. “The teams that learn to win, they’ll be fine. The teams that don’t, they’ll be going the other way.”

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