After a bumpy start to the game (in part because of lousy officiating), the Red Wings were able to get it together, come from behind, and win the game in Phoenix. Last year, the Wings struggled on a similar western road trip in the beginning of the season. This season, the Wings went 3-1 against LA, Anaheim, San Jose, and Phoenix with their only loss against the defending Stanley Cup champs, 6-3.

The Wings could've had a 6-2 win, but the officials waved off a Henrik Zetterberg goal in the first period because of "interference" by Tomas Holmstrom. Matt Saler at On The Wings believes the call was crap.

I’ve officially lost all faith in the officiating of the National Hockey League. The goaltender interference* call on Tomas Holmstrom at 9:13 of the first period was perhaps the worst call I’ve ever seen. Not only did it send Holmstrom to the box for doing absolutely nothing wrong, it robbed the Wings of a goal by Henrik Zetterberg. What a load of BS. I’m completely disgusted.

45 year old vetern defenseman Chris Chelios played a great game last night finishing with two assists.

"I thought it was his best game," Mike Babcock said. "I thought his legs were going and he got the pucks and that’s real important. When he starts winning all his battles on the penalty kill and making the plays he can make when he gets to the puck that really helps."

One of the stories during this road trip is the impressive play by Matt Ellis, who is playing like he doesn't want to be sent back to Grand Rapids (the Wings' AHL affiliate) anytime soon. Dave at Gorilla Crouch writes about his play in last night's game.

The underlying story is that Matt Ellis likely cemented his place on the team with his performance. The former Grand Rapids Griffins captain notched an assist in the game but also was a key contributor while keeping the puck in the offensive zone which lead to Kirk Maltby’s first goal due to a re-direct of Cheli’s shot from the point. Ellis also scored a goal in the San Jose game and registered an assist in the Anaheim game. That gives him a three-game point streak.

Jiri Hudler scored his first goal of the season and the first goal of the game. Brett Lebda also scored his first goal of the season in the victory.

Kirk Maltby scored twice in an unexpected offensive burst. Not surprisingly, Zetterberg scored once and notched one assist in last night's game.