It’s ridiculous how good it feels to say this: three wins in a row for the Wings. It’s easy to feel they’ve turned the corner.

Osgood: Another strong game from him. 33 saves and and two in the shootout made for one of his better nights this season. He was tested to a fair degree by the Sharks’ forward corps and was about as steady as it gets. The Sharks’ goal looked a little weak, but whatever. He should have gotten one of the game’s stars.

Draper-Helm-Eaves: In my opinion, flat out the best line throughout the game. No other unit created problems for the Sharks like this group did. No other unit showed the hustle those three did. Eaves was the only one of the three that got a point, but it was Helm’s efforts earlier in the play that created the conditions that led to Zetterberg’s tying goal. Heck of a game for those guys.

Eaves: More specifically, Patrick has been exponentially better since he scored that goal in Edmonton. His confidence is through the roof and it’s produced an entirely different player from the one that was so underwhelming earlier in the season. Great to see.

Bertuzzi: In contrast, he seems to be on the downward slope of some kind of bell curve. He’d been getting better and looked poised to pull out of his early season slump, but suddenly, he’s flubbing glorious chances worse than ever. He had a perfect, threaded feed from Stuart last night that would have been a gimme goal for anyone with a stick, but he managed to fumble the puck completely. His hands seem to be made of cinder blocks.

Leino: Few players looked better on an individual basis last night than Ville did. I guess the message from his benching was slow to arrive, but now that it has? He looked like a man possessed. He was creating chances all night and nearly had  couple goals. Great to see. Let’s hope it continues.

Ericsson: Another weak night for young Big Rig. He very spectacularly fell over just prior to the Sharks goal and left Osgood out to dry due that sudden brain cramp on the whole skating thing. Granted the Sharks’ transition on that play was fast, but Jonny was just a little too caught off guard.

After Zetterberg scored in the shootout, they showed a shot of the bench, which included video of Ericsson’s response. It was excessively celebratory. He was obviously relieved. I hope he’s motivated to come out Saturday with a stronger performance. He’s obviously reverted to your typical young defenseman learning curve (remember Fischer’s growth?), which is fine, but a let down after his torrid start as an NHLer.

Penalty kill: It’s suddenly looking world-beating. Cool, huh?

Zetterberg: His regulation goal is apparently “controversial” because the puck was under Nabokov’s leg for a split second and the ref had the whistle to his mouth. I figure if he was going to blow it dead, he would have waived it off. No need to get riled up about it, folks.

As for his shootout goal: wow. About time he tried something new. He’s usually either got a shot-to-crest or that stupid Forsbergian move under his belt. This time? He came in with speed at Nabokov’s left. He then slammed on the breaks and pulled the puck across to his forehand, managing to sneak it just inside the left post. Beautiful goal. He’s another guy that’s been very strong lately.

Next up: a must-win over the flailing Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. Why a must win? Aside from the fact that the Leafs suck this year, it’s the Legends Game, at which Steve Yzerman will be honored along with his other HHOF inductees. No better way to honor The Captain than by beating the Leafs.

Make it four, guys.