Red Wings Soaring: Detroit Pulling Away from Pack in Central Division

So far this season, each of the five teams in NHL's Central Division have spent some time as the No. 1 team in the division.

Prior to the season, the general feeling around the league was that the primary, if not only, battle in the central would be a two-horse race between Chicago and Detroit for the top spot.

The season is still very young, and we may yet see this come to pass.

However, to date we've seen as many as three teams tied in points for first place, teams go from fifth to first in the span of just two games, and at one point, all five teams securely in the playoff picture.

Still, as competitive as the Central Division has been through the first month of the season, it looks like the Detroit Red Wings are prepared to put some serious distance between them and their divisional rivals.

While the Chicago Blackhawks continue to go through their post-championship growing pains (they're 3-6-1 over their last 10 games) and the once red-hot St. Louis Blues led by goalie Jaroslav Halak have suddenly cooled off, the Red Wings appear to be getting stronger and more confident with each game.

The Wings currently have 15 players on the roster with at least one goal, and every player on the roster has at least one point.

Detroit also sports a goal differential of plus-14, better by far than each of their divisional neighbors and good enough for second overall in the NHL.

The Red Wings' three most important players, otherwise known as Nicklas Lidstrom, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk, have all lived up to that billing as the trio leads the team in scoring.

Additionally, second-year starter Jimmy Howard has a 9-1-1 record with a 2.15 GAA and .921 save percentage.  Not bad for a guy many pegged for a sophomore fizzle.

Though having your best players emerge as just that and solid goal tending are essential for success, it is Detroit's roster depth, and the performance of those players throughout that is setting the Wings apart in the Central Division.

Todd Bertuzzi was brought back over the summer after a solid 44-point campaign last season.

GM Ken Holland hoped that Bertuzzi might be able to crack the 50-point mark and continue to develop his defensive skills over the next two seasons.

What Bertuzzi has done is put himself on pace for a 76-point year and lead the team with a plus-11 rating.

Bertuzzi appears to have long since put his physical and emotional pains behind him and is playing his best hockey since his glory days with the Vancouver Canucks in the early 2000s.

Along with Bertuzzi, Dan Cleary is another player who has quite clearly recovered from nagging injuries and a lackluster 2009-10 season to become a dangerous physical and offensive threat for the Red Wings.

Cleary is tied for the team lead in goals with Johan Franzen at seven and is third among forwards in hits with 24.

When it comes to defense men, Nicklas Lidstrom and Brad Stuart have certainly been Detroit's most consistent; however, Jonathan Ericsson is quickly re-emerging as a legitimate top-four defense man.

After suffering through a disappointing season last year marked by timid play, a bad turnover habit and a team-worst minus-15 rating, Ericsson is looking more and more like the rookie that came into the playoffs in 2009 and promptly dominated shift after shift.

Though his season was put on hold after he a back injury suffered in the season opener, Ericsson's poise and confidence since returning six games ago are undeniable.

Ericsson has just a single goal and a plus-three rating in seven games this season, but his decision-making on the ice, defensive positioning and physical play have all been in top form, even if those things don't always stand out on a stat sheet.

Finally, there's Jiri Hudler.

After tapping his foot and looking at his watch patiently through 13 games, waiting for Hudler's offense to arrive, coach Mike Babcock made it clear two games ago that Hudler needed to produce, and now, or he'd be taking in games riding a bike in the locker room until further notice.

Hudler has gone on to earn an assist and a goal his past two games, the latter in the form of a behind-the-net, trick-shot deflection that stood up as the game-winner.

Not a bad way to come out of a slump.

With Hudler now on the score sheet, the last remaining slow starter on the Wings roster is gone.

This gives them the opportunity to roll four solid lines that present the opposition with the unenviable task of trying to figure out who to cover, and when.

At present, the Detroit Red Wings are showing no signs of weakness and a supreme amount of individual and collective confidence.

Though their rivals in Chicago, St. Louis, Columbus and Nashville are going to have quite a lot to say about who emerges as the Central Division winners this season, the Red Wings are playing the part of champs quite well of late, and don't figure to give up the role any time soon.

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