Hossa headlines Sunday's Three Stars

1. Marian Hossa, Red Wings: With two key cogs -- namely Pavel Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidstrom -- out of the lineup, someone needed to set the tone offensively for the Red Wings. That was Hossa. He always plays hard on both offense and defense; but on this day, Hossa was hopping. He scored his first goals of the series and of import in this contest, he netted the Wings' first marker of the game, a short-handed message sender. As always, Hossa hustled without the puck as well, both on the forecheck and the backcheck.

2. Valtteri Filppula, Red Wings: Playing with Hossa, Filppula scored his first goal of the playoffs. It was his precise passing, however, that set him apart. Filppula displayed both patience and vision with the puck and always found the open teammate. Often times that was Hossa, as the pair displayed similar chemistry to what they showed when put together midway through the last series against the Ducks.

3. Niklas Kronwall, Red Wings: Booed as the villain by the Blackhawks' fans because of his hit on Martin Havlat in Game 3, Kronwall blocked out all of the distractions and performed admirably. His biggest contribution wasn't in overcoming derisive cheers, but in being the central figure on a Red Wings' blueline without its linchpin, Lidstrom. Coach Mike Babcock dressed Chris Chelios, but used him sparingly, opting instead to go with mostly a five-man rotation, with Kronwall as the key. What a compelling comeback after being ejected the previous game.