Inhale. Exhale. Fist Pump. Victory.

After today, all Red Wings fans have to be a lot better. Up until tonight, both the team and the fanbase was waiting to see if this formula could produce some results. Tonight was the first sign of that success.

The Red Wings beat Vancouver 5-4 tonight, with a win that gave the team a lot of firsts on the season. The win was the first road win for the Wings. Pavel Datsyuk (a Hart Trophy nominee last year) scored his first two goals of the season, after going goalless for his first seven games. Jimmy Howard showed that his potential could be paying off as he held off the Canucks for the last final flurry in the third period, giving us some hope that Howard really could be either the goalie of the future or at least a credible backup. Eight games and two periods worth of minimal scoring ended with four third-period goals. All of these are what we expect of the Wings, but no Wings fan could have expected it all to come together in one night.

The Wings celebrate the fifth and game-winning goal of the night.

Tonight’s third period was the best chunk of time from these Wings, and it’s a little sad that it came after midnight in metro Detroit. While I think it might be too early to make claims that the Red Wings we know and love are back…this could be the point that we look back on as a rallying game. Naturally, given the time of night and recent play, most Wings fans went to bed with a low-scoring game in progress and woke up with a surprise. Heck, the game was barely ten minutes old, and Chris Osgood was already pulled. At that point, it may have seemed like a wise move to just go to bed. It also may have seemed like night to skip the ending after a second period with no scoring, as Roberto Luongo appeared to be crafting a masterpiece in net.

Instead, the offense figured it out. Finally, but still. It came. The scoring started with a Niklas Kronwall goal around the four-minute mark of the third, as Kronner came in deep and used a Tomas Holmstrom screen to beat Luongo and tie the game. This started a flurry of scoring that seemed far more stressful at the time. Vancouver’s Mathieu Schneider (a former Wing) scored a quick power play goal one minute later, and Pavel Datsyuk tied the game back up with a quick shot right after Vancouver’s goal.

At this point, for the first time in many years, Red Wings fans felt almost lucky to see this. Overdoing it, I know, but it felt like a special game that the team couldn’t waste. We’re scoring, what’s going on? Naturally, Datsyuk puts another one in, on the power play, for the Wings’ first lead of the night. Considering that everyone is in the mindset of ‘every point is incredibly crucial’, this lead felt like we were in the playoffs or something. On a smaller scale of course, but still. October road games don’t usually mean this much.

Naturally, a five-on-three for Vancouver leads to a tying goal, and panic sets in again. Tie game. On the road. With Jimmy Howard. Against Roberto Luongo. With an offense that may or may not keep scoring. At this point, I had to think that this game might not end well. For the first time in this portion of the season ever, I was concerned. Concerned for this game, and concerned for this season. Suddenly, there was so much wrapped into this game, and the likelihood of this being a tipping point was so much more magnified.

The minutes began ticking away, as the night-owl Wings fans hoped for a goal. The Wings power play unit answered those hopes with five minutes left. At the 14:57 mark of the third period, Jason Williams stuffed in a Filppula pass to give the Wings the lead again. I could breathe again, just like the Wings could.

Five hectic minutes of defense later, the Red Wings had a well-deserved victory. All of those firsts I’ve mentioned will be talked about tomorrow, and those will make an impact. Tonight though, I’m just savoring this win. It feels good, it will feel good in the morning, and we’re just taking this one step at a time. Hope should be a good thing, and I’ve got that feeling with the Wings now…finally.