DETROIT - Judging by outfits worn by customers in the pregame corridors, at least 10 percent of Friday night's sellout crowd cheered for the visiting Chicago Blackhawks against the Red Wings at jumpin' Joe Louis Arena.

They raised their voices, too, when Chicago evened the score at a goal apiece at 11 minutes and 16 seconds of the first period on Patrick Kane's beautiful, rising shot on the power play.

"Let's go Hawks!" the Chicago fans chanted, as the booing grew from the hometowners surrounding them. "Let's go Hawks!"

But the visitors had little else to yell about the rest of the way. Playing with confident boldness and boundless energy, the Wings scored the only goals the rest of the way and sailed to a 4-1 victory over one of the National Hockey League's really good teams.

"When everything clicks, we're really good," said Detroit's Johan Franzen, who scored the game-winner at 4:49 of the second period, to make it 2-1, by taking Henrik Zetterberg's pass on his skate, pushing it up to his backhand and beating goalie Corey Crawford after a Chicago turnover.

"We looked really good out there," said Tomas Tatar, who made it 3-1 just 70 seconds later by knocking in a long rebound after yet another turnover by the Hawks.

Along with the Wings' relentless attack of takeaways, precise passing and bursts of skating speed, they got a key moment from goalie Jimmy Howard, who stopped Kane twice midway through the first period after Kane broke in alone.

Howard blocked the first shot from low in the right-wing circle but the rebound found Kane again at the lip of the crease.

"He got a couple whacks at it and I was able to get my glove on it," Howard said.

Friday's effort, Howard said, "was probably our best game we've played this season."

Indeed, it raised their record to 8-3-5 and their home mark to 6-1-2. After elimination in the first round of last spring's playoffs, the Wings seem so far to be a younger, faster, more confident bunch.

Howard, playing with an edge, faced 26 shots, got a high-sticking penalty in the first period and drew a goaltender interference penalty from Chicago's Andrew Shaw in the second period.

There wasn't a lot of thunderous bumping - it wasn't that kind of game - but the Detroit fans roared when Brendan Smith pushed Kane over with one hand and when Kyle Quincey crunched Peter Regin. Smith also scored the last goal, an empty-net effort at 17:51 of the third period. Luke Glendening got the first at 6:08 of the first.

Although still on the borderline of playoff contention as the season near the one-quarter mark, the Wings seem to be finding their identity as a team and could be very scary to play the rest of the way. Montreal, another speedy team, will be in Sunday as the Wings play their fourth of four consecutive home games.

Howard's early double save gave his teammates a boost. After pressuring Chicago into turnovers they sprang into transition to create rushes and chances. Play flowed continuously for long stretches and broken sticks remained on ice for two or three up-and-down shifts because no whistle stopped play.

It took only 2 hours and 15 minutes to finish the whole thing. At times, Chicago players seemed to join the fans in silent awe, watching the Wings throw passes, tape-to-tape, the sound of "click-click-click" echoing in the air as well-aimed pucks found waiting stick blades of skaters already in motion.

Detroit coach Mike Babcock refused to accept one of the great cliches of the sport when someone tried to describe his team's style.

"I don't think we play 'fire-wagon,'" he said. "But I like us to play fast. I like us to be in attack mode. I'm not a big believer in that you defend leads. I think you play like it's tied all the time. You put on the gas and go get the opposition."

Babcock said his team didn't look this speedy in recent games and that four days off left the Wings with fresh legs. That was an understatement. In the final minute, the Wings were storming the Chicago crease. They looked as if they could play another game right away against another team. They were very impressive and entertaining.

Extra Lapointes: Victor Martinez probably won't be an $18 million player in 2018, but the Tigers made the move they had to make Friday when they signed their designated hitter to a four-year, $68 million pact. Next, they should make him officially their captain . . . If the Lions beat Arizona on the road this Sunday, they will return there this winter to play in the Super Bowl. You read it here first . . . If you've been watching the Pistons closely, they've been getting steadily better. Not a great team, not even a good team yet. But pointed in the right direction . . . Everyone around Michigan football seems to be apologizing for everything except the transgressions of the Fab Five. Hard to imagine humility would ever visit such a haughty, proud program. But it has. Let the rebuilding begin . . . MSU's major loss to Ohio State last week made Tom Izzo's basketball Spartans a lot more interesting in a hurry . . . So long for now.

Joe Lapointe is a sports columnist for MLive.com. He is a 20-year veteran of the New York Times sports department, 11-year veteran of the Detroit Free Press, and a Detroit native.