Q: Can anybody stop the Red Wings? They are the only team in the league that wins at home and away and they have two of the most exciting players in Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk.

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Henrik Zetterberg, left, and Pavel Datsyuk have been very special together in Detroit.

Photograph by : Reuters

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(Don Kern)

A: Detroit always has a great regular season, but they haven't been to the Stanley Cup final since 2002, and only once since 1998.

In the past, they beat up on the Central Division for all their points, but this year the Central is the NHL's best group, and they're still racking up wins, everywhere.

The only team that seems to have Detroit's number is Chicago, which has beaten them four times and Detroit's only lost seven games in regulation and two in shootouts.

Only the Senators are close to them in points, but their goal differential is much different. Detroit's a plus-37 in goals for vs. goals against, and Ottawa is plus-15. Zetterberg and Datsyuk are two of the five best forwards in the league with Vincent Lecavalier, Sidney Crosby and Daniel Alfredsson.

At home, they play Zetterberg and Datsyuk together a lot; on the road they tend to split them up to make it hard to check them. Chris Osgood, who should be picked for the all-star team if he stays as hot as he is now (one loss all year), is now a tag-team partner with Dominik Hasek. They've got the best defenceman in the world, too, in Nick Lidstrom.

They only need one thing: a top six forward, and knowing GM Ken Holland, he'll get one at the deadline.

jmatheson@thejournal.canwest.com

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