It’s in the air. You can sense it. The Detroit Red Wings have one thing and one thing only on their minds: the Stanley Cup.

After another convincing win against Dallas Stars in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, the Red Wings are poised to make another trip to the Cup finals.

Thanks in large part to the tremendous play of goaltender Chris Osgood, the Wings have a commanding 3-0 led over the Stars.

Ask his teammates and they’ll all tell you that Osgood’s playing the best hockey of his career. The two-time Stanley Cup winner has posted a 1.46 goals-against-average and a .935 save percentage, with one shutout, throughout the playoffs and is trying to get the Wings their first championship since the 2001-02 season.

“[Osgood’s play has] been excellent,” said Wings head coach Mike Babcock following Game 3. “I think when you start talking about it, sometimes you think like he wasn't playing all year, the way everyone talks about it.

“He was our best goalie all year. He won the most games. He played really, really well. And he played well last year. Ever since he's worked on his butterfly, he's been back to being a real good goalie.

“And you gotta give the guy a lot of credit for reinventing himself. And he's now back at the top of his game. He's a great teammate. That's what he is. He's a great guy. He's funny. He's good to be around. The guys play hard for him. They really like him. But he's given them an opportunity right now.”

Factor in Osgood’s fantastic play and the Red Wings’ phenomenal defensive core with their potent offensive game and there doesn’t seem to be much the opposition can do to get this team off its game.

Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk rank first and second in the league with 18 and 17 playoff points, respectively, while Johan Franzen ranks third with 15 points and sits first in goals with 12.

“We played a lot of games together. And we find that chemistry and some nights it works a little better than others,” Zetterberg said.

The Wings will face off against the Stars Thursday in Dallas with hopes of closing out the series.

Last season’s acquisition of Mike Ribeiro has most definitely paid off, as he’s played extremely well throughout these playoffs. This year’s trade deadline pick up, Brad Richards, has also factored in to how well the Stars have performed this year, and captain Brendan Morrow has been clutch when he’s needed to be.

However, if the Red Wings keep up their tremendous performance, there doesn’t appear much the Stars can do to get in Detroit’s way.

The Wings are geared up for another Cup finals visit, and at the rate they’re going, they should be preparing for the Pittsburgh Penguins or Philadelphia Flyers come Thursday night.

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