Detroit -- The way Henrik Zetterberg plays with such dominance at both ends of the ice often has drawn comparisons to how former Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman played in his heyday.

Now, with the Red Wings nearing the completion of a Stanley Cup run, Zetterberg is likely to add to the reasons he so often is spoken of as a successor to Yzerman: A Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs' most valuable player.

The Red Wings take a 3-1 lead into tonight's Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final against the Penguins thanks to the stellar performances of a number of players. With the end of the playoffs at most three games away, it's time to take a look at who, from Detroit, are the leading candidates to be named MVP as voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

Zetterberg's name is at the top of the list, but he has strong competition for the award. The dozens of small plays Nicklas Lidstrom makes every game to control an opponent cannot be overstated in value, and it is hard to overlook the fact the Red Wings' playoff fortunes turned as soon as Chris Osgood took over in net in Game 5 of the first round.

Johan Franzen was the definitive front-runner through the first two rounds, and still is worthy of strong consideration even though he missed six games bridging the third and fourth rounds because of concussion-like symptoms.

Here is a look at the four most worthy Conn Smythe candidates from the Red Wings.

• Henrik Zetterberg -- He needs just one point to tie the single-season club playoff point record shared by Sergei Fedorov (1995) and Steve Yzerman (1998), which shows just how dominant Zetterberg has been in the offensive zone. But I think the reason Zetterberg will win the Conn Smythe is because of how he has played, especially when the Red Wings have been short-handed. Zetterberg has 12 goals, but the two that stand out the most are the ones he scored in Games 3 and 6 against Dallas. In both cases, he got the puck away from Stars captain Brenden Morrow and took off down the ice, scoring while the Stars were on power plays. In Game 3, Zetterberg scored early in the third period, while the Stars were only trailing by one goal. That sort of play is just a pure back-breaker.

Zetterberg showed his defensive prowess again in Game 4 against the Penguins, when he stayed out to kill 1:27 worth of two-man Pittsburgh power play.

"That's where he stands out from other superstars in this league," Franzen said. "He can play so well in his own end, he can play on a 3 on 5. You don't see other superstars do that, not a lot of them, anyway. That's what makes him real special."

• Nicklas Lidstrom -- If he wasn't on the ice every other shift, wasn't steadily knocking pucks down at the blue line and eliminating forechecks, wasn't controlling the game with the way he uses his stick -- would the Red Wings be within a victory of lifting the Stanley Cup? Not a chance, which is why in many ways, the Conn Smythe should go to the Red Wings' captain.

Lidstrom is on the ice more than any other Red Wings skater, always on against top opposing forwards, and always on at the most important times of the games. He never gets rattled, and can be counted on to score a huge goal when it matters most, like he did in Game 4 of this series, nullifying the boost the Penguins had gotten from scoring first. Lidstrom also was out the entire 87-second, 5-on-3 kill in Game 4, and is a major reason Crosby has yet to register a single point at Joe Louis Arena in this series.

• Chris Osgood -- If there was a trophy for being the most valuable comedic player, he would win it by unanimous vote. Yesterday afternoon, Osgood was milling about the dressing room when he spotted a photographer shooting in his direction; he immediately posed, which prompted those around him to burst out laughing.

His easygoing demeanor is part of why he is having such success in goal, where he leads the NHL with a 1.45 goals-against average.

Osgood wasn't even supposed to be in net for the Red Wings this playoff run, but when Dominik Hasek struggled in two consecutive games against Nashville, Osgood took over, and the team took off. The benefit to playing goal in Detroit is that the Red Wings are so good defensively, Osgood hasn't had to do all that much work -- just consider that of the two goalies left standing, Osgood has faced 376 shots in 17 games, while the Penguins' Marc-Andre Fleury has faced 522 shots in 18 games.

Osgood made his best argument for winning the Conn Smythe in his most recent outing, when he stopped 22 shots in Game 4, stopping Crosby twice and making five saves on Evgeni Malkin.

• Johan Franzen -- To fully appreciate what impact his 13 goals, which lead the playoffs, has had on the Red Wings, consider the second and third rounds. The Red Wings played just four games in round two against Colorado, and while the Avalanche was injured, there wasn't another Red Wings player who took advantage of them like Franzen did, pouring in nine goals. Those nine goals enabled the Red Wings to take just one trip to Denver, and then sit home and rest for a week. Meanwhile, over in the other Western Conference semifinal, the Sharks and Stars ground out a six-game series, the last game of which ended with four overtimes. The well-rested Red Wings feasted on a clearly tired Stars team in Game 1 of the third round, and that had everything to do with Franzen's scoring bonanza.

Franzen missed the last five games of the third round and the first game of Round 4, a sizeable absence in the playoffs. But the past two games, he has given the Penguins fits.

It is, of course, possible the Wings won't win tonight, possible this series will be extended. But if the 2008 Stanley Cup final ends this evening, the Conn Smythe winner will be one of the above men, and each of them has built himself a very worthy argument.