Bertuzzi: Strong game by our favorite whipping boy, eh? Here’s hoping the two goals is enough to get him going on a more consistent basis, which in turn may be key in turning this season around sooner rather than later. His big thing is confidence and putting two in the net in the way he did should help with that big time.

Howard: Another strong outing by Jimmy, despite the Ducks’ second goal. I thought he looked very sharp all night and kept the Wings in it in their weaker moments. To his credit, he didn’t let the weak goal get to him as he continued his sharp play in the third.

Abdelkader: He got jumped by Perry for a clean hit and acquitted himself well despite getting taken down to the ice. Last night, from what little FS D showed, it seemed he took the worst of it, but this Ducks feed replay (watch on mute) shows he got most of the punches in himself. He’s looking like a real NHLer these days.

On that note, Meg tells me they’ve given Justin’s Grand Rapids #19 to Jeremy Williams, which is as good a sign as any that he’s here to stay. Not that there was any doubt any more.

Review: The reviewed play in the second was confusing. A mad flurry around the net led to Jonathan Ericsson seemingly saving a goal while at the same time someone took a penalty. The call on the ice was just “penalty,” but they went to review. Replay showed the puck never entered the net and fortunately that’s what the refs determined.

As it turns out, the penalty was on Parros for goaltender interference, which would have wiped out any goal as long as it didn’t go in off a Wing. Because Ericsson stopped the puck on the goalline, they  must have been checking that. Crazy sequence.

Stuart: He had a check of a night. He was active offensively, strong defensively and overall was maybe the best Wings skater.

Eurotwins: Both of them need to get new sticks. For Pavel, he had a shift in OT where one stick broke on a faceoff and then another broke on a set up from Lidstrom. In the final minute of regulation, he shanked a sure goal by sending it wide.

As for Zetterberg, he sent numerous shots wide. As Kyle pointed out, this game could have been 6-2 or better had those two buried their chances.

Minor injuries: So, Rafalski’s taking a puck to the face in the first was fun, huh? And he sure took his sweet time getting back. It didn’t seem like it could be that serious, but with the Wings’ track record this season, a broken face didn’t seem out of the question. Fortunately, he just needed stitches.

Then Lebda took an awkward hit to his shoulder/arm just before the Ducks’ first goal. He spent the rest of the shift up to the goal hunched over and fighting to keep playing. The Wings are classy enough not to flop to the ice on injuries when they don’t have to. Fortunately, he was able to return or they’d be short a defenseman again.

Next up: So the Wings battled back and earned the win. A more complete effort tonight would be nice.

And on tonight, we won’t be able to watch because of a family wedding.