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Kronwall on Zetterberg: “He’s the best player on the ice right now”

Detroit Red Wings v Toronto Maple Leafs

TORONTO, CANADA - JANUARY 07: Henrik Zetterberg #40 of the Detroit Red Wings shoots during warmup before NHL action against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre January 7, 2012 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Abelimages/Getty Images)

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For the first half of the season, Henrik Zetterberg looked nothing like his All-Star self.

For the second half, that’s all he’s looked like.

The 31-year-old Swede has been lights-out over the past 23 games, scoring 12G-19A-31PTS while igniting his linemates, Valtteri Filppula and Jiri Hudler. Zetterberg’s also a big reason why Detroit was able to muster an 11-9-3 record over that same 23-game stretch despite losing the likes of Nicklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, Jimmy Howard, Johan Franzen, Darren Helm and Jonathan Ericsson to injury.

“He’s the best player on the ice right now, night in and night out,’' defenseman Niklas Kronwall told MLive.com. “He’s making things happen every shift, whether that’s working hard offensively or defensively. Right now he’s playing unbelievable.

“That whole line has been great for us.’'

As MLive’s Ansar Khan notes, the Zetterberg-Filppula-Hudler line has carried the Wings on many nights. Filppula has set career highs in goals (23) and points (24) while Hudler has rebounded from a bad 2010-11 campaign to score 23 times, tying a career-high. Both have played extremely well, but owe a large part of their success to Zetterberg’s play.

“[Zetterberg’s] a competitive guy, but he’s skating so much better than he did at the start of the year,’' coach Mike Babcock said. “Things are going for him. He’s got confidence. That line, to me, dominates every shift.’'

While he’s probably not concerned about personal statistics, Zetterberg could escape some ignominy with a strong finish. He’s scored at least 70 points in every season since the lockout, save the 2006-07 campaign (missed 19 games with back spasms) and this year, he’s on 66 points...with six games left in the season.

“Pucks are going in, you get more confidence and you do more stuff that comes natural,’' Zetterberg said. “Before you maybe think twice about doing stuff, but now it just happens.

“Hopefully it will continue.’'