The Detroit Red Wings had been on such a tear, their loss in Game 4 of the Western Conference final seemed borderline stunning.

They still need one victory, though, to advance to their first Stanley Cup final since winning it all in 2002, and take a flawless playoff home record into Game 5 tomorrow at Joe Louis Arena.

I don't think there will be a return trip to Dallas: The Red Wings have outscored opponents, 25-9, at home, and they're too grounded to not get right back to what helped them win nine consecutive games before falling, 3-1, Wednesday night to the host Stars.

"It's hard to win, like, game by game," Pavel Datsyuk said. "But we played hard and we have lots of good chances."

The Red Wings flew home yesterday and will resume practicing today in preparation for the matinee tomorrow. It is awfully tempting to speculate on the outcome of Game 4 had Datsyuk's goal not been waved off because referee Kelly Sutherland decided Tomas Holmstrom's posterior violated Marty Turco's air space.

That call denied what would have been a 1-0 Red Wings lead midway through the second period. The Red Wings are 10-0 when leading after two periods, and ... it's ultimately futile speculation.

"We're still in control, and we're going back home where we've played real well all playoffs and all regular season," Dan Cleary said. "We just have to take care of business, be more disciplined and put more pressure on Turco. What we've always stressed is be good at home -- make sure other teams know when they come into our building it's not going to be an easy task, and we've done that."

Three consecutive penalties in the first period Wednesday shortened the Red Wings' bench, and they didn't really get skating until the second period. Turco (0-9-2 in his NHL career at Joe Louis Arena) had his best game of the series, but the Red Wings didn't do as good a job as in the first three games of getting in front of him, backing him into the net and making him a little bit smaller.

The Stars won because they're a good, determined team, and they got a lucky break having Datsyuk's goal called off, something Dallas coach Dave Tippett conceded.

Datsyuk pointed out the game "was a little bit harder for us because we did not score," meaning the Red Wings, for a change, weren't dictating like they had done so many games in a row. When Mike Modano scored some five minutes into the third period, it was the first time since Game 1 of Round 2 the Red Wings had to play from behind.

So, the Red Wings will go back to work today and attempt to close out the series tomorrow. They're one victory from the final and have lost only three games in the postseason. The many years so many of the Red Wings' players have spent playing in big games can't be overstated as an advantage.

"I don't know if there's any nerves that might come into some of the guys' heads, but we've got lots of experience, whether it's been in Detroit or on other teams or internationally in these types of games," Kirk Maltby said. "We have a good core leadership here.

"We've got guys that have been in this situation at every level, and we've got two days to freshen up between games, so there's no reason for us not to come out and play as good as we have all playoffs."