Chris Osgood put another 29 saves onto his resume as his surging Detroit Red Wings knocked off the slumping Boston Bruins 2-0. These denials came as a part of his 394th career victory. Added to these stats is the fact that those saves added up to his 50th career shutout, a milestone that only 22 others in the NHL have achieved. Osgood’s play of late has been somewhat below what is expected of him, as the Red Wings find themselves in a four-way tie for 8th place in the Western Conference, but he was in top form during Tuesday night’s victory.

Osgood now has 39 career shutouts over two stints with the Red Wings, six with the New York Islanders and five with the St. Louis Blues, all in 720 career games. He’s currently 23rds on the all-time shutout leaders list. While he’s not close to the leaders (Terry Sawchuk leads the way with 103 shutouts, Martin Brodeur is second with 102), Osgood does have a realistic chance to move into the top 20. One more shutout ties him with Curtis Joseph, Dave Kerr and Rogatien Vachon. Joseph and Brodeur are the only two active goalies with more shutouts than him.

The Red Wings’ performance of late has been missing some key components from last year’s Stanley Cup Finals run. Marian Hossa and Jiri Hudler were lost to free agency after the playoffs, and forwards Valtteri Filppula and Johan Franzen are currently benched with injuries. Despite these setbacks, he is still 5-2-2 this season. He has posted a .902 save percentage with a 2.74 goals against average. Both of these numbers are just below his career averages, so to expect much more from the 36-year old Albertan might be a bit of a pipe dream for fans of the winged wheel.

Osgood has said that he does not put much merit in shutouts, believing that all they are good for is a great chance of winning the game. While technically he is correct, these are just humble words from a man who has been one of the consistently above-average goalies in the last decade. While the Red Wings may be underperforming in recent weeks – especially compared to what they’ve done in the last two years – don’t expect this team to stay down in the standings for long. The Red Wings will fix their problems; they always do, and there won’t be much that can stop them from another Stanley Cup.