Notes: Wings aim to improve specialty teams

DETROIT -- Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill has said all season that Detroit's specialty teams have to be excellent in order to have success.
Last year many of the Wings felt that a better power play could have made the difference in getting into the playoffs.

This season the power play has been much better. It is currently 10th in the league at 21.4 percent.
However, it was not so great in Tuesday's victory over the Winnipeg Jets as the team was 0-for-6, which included two lengthy 5-on-3 chances.
"We have two 5-on-3 and I was out there for both of them and I take it on me," Martin Frk said. "I got to go score, that's an opportunity when you have to score and I didn't do it. I got to be better with that, I got to make sure I put it in the net. That's a situation that can win you a game so I have to be very good at it because I got a lot of minutes there. It's definitely something I have to work on and be better."
Defenseman Mike Green, who has set up Frk for some power-play goals this season, says the Wings just need to adjust to other teams' adjustments.
"I feel like this time in the season everybody's got their video and they know exactly what teams and power plays are doing," Green said. "We're trying to find new ways to create shooting chances and scoring chances. We've tried to do a few different things, we'll implement it tomorrow."
In Frk's case, he has only been back for two games since missing eight with a groin injury.
"Overall, I feel good on the ice," Frk said. "It was a little tough to get in the game in Montreal. It didn't go very well for us, too, so it was hard to get anything. But I think I felt much better playing against Winnipeg. I think the team did very well, too, we finally get the win after seven games. That was definitely good. Our line with Double-A (Andreas Athanasiou) and Boother (David Booth), I think we played pretty good. I think we got a goal, too, so that helps us with confidence and hopefully we can carry it for tomorrow's game, too."
The Wings' penalty kill, which was recently as high as fourth in the league, has dropped to 11th at 82 percent.
"To be honest with you, I actually think the PK has been performing really well," Blashill said. "Even the Montreal game at home here, I thought we did an unreal job killing, we gave up a goal with like, six seconds left or something. Now it was a bad mistake but after doing an unreal job killing. I think the structure that the guys knowing what to do and the execution's been good but now we've given up too many goals in a row.
"What we've got to do at these types of times where you think the structure is good, lots of good stuff going on, is not overreact. We got to make sure that we certainly stop the bleeding in terms of letting goals go in but not panic and make sure we stay with the things that have helped us be successful."
NEED MORE O FROM D: Aside from Green, the Wings do not have a lot of offensive defensemen.
The Wings have just five goals from defensemen, two from Green, two from Niklas Kronwall and one from Jonathan Ericsson.
Only the Buffalo Sabres have fewer goals from defensemen with just one all season.
"I think we can emphasize (joining the rush) a little bit more," Green said. "There's a fine balance between getting up in the rush and being risky and playing the right way. I think us as defensemen try to find that balance. If we can create a little more zone time in the O-zone where we can kind of jump into holes maybe that'll create some more. You can always try to push to do a little bit more."
Ericsson could have had another last game but it was changed to Gustav Nyquist's goal by the official scorers after the game.
"First of all, it's been important to us, probably like every team, that our D are active up the rush, it's something we work on every day in practice, but we're not alone," Blashill said last week. "Most teams do. You have to have four, really five now in the attack to have a good chance to score. I think we can do a better job on those line rushes, potentially delaying and hitting some of the late guys, being the D, it's something we worked on (last week) in practice. So I think it's something we can continue to emphasize.
"In the O-zone, having a shot-first mentality from the top. The minute you take a second, everybody's in the lanes and they block it. So making sure you're shooting off the pass. I also think sometimes it just comes. Like I also said with Tats (Tomas Tatar), I think we've had some D that have had some chances but haven't scored quite as much. I don't think we have a D corps that has a whole bunch of natural goal scorers on it, but that's OK, they've played real well in the role they are. Part of creating offense as a defenseman is not bogging your forwards down. I think our D have done an excellent job of that this year in compared to last. There were times last year our D bogged our forwards down from moving up the ice."
Green also said the defensemen sometimes wait for a shot until there's more traffic around the net.
"Teams do a good job of getting in the lanes," Green said. "Maybe we have to try to find ways at the side of the net or get shots off quicker. That's something we've been working on lately."
The Wings' opponent Saturday, the St. Louis Blues, lead the league in goals by defensemen with 22.
Alex Pietrangelo has seven goals and Joel Edmundson has six.
Green is 18th among defensemen in points with 18.
BLUES' FIRST GAME AT LITTLE CAESARS: The Wings faced the Blues many, many times at Joe Louis Arena when the two teams were both in the Central Division.
It's a rivalry that goaltender Jimmy Howard misses being in the Eastern Conference.
"I missed playing against St. Louis, Chicago and Nashville all the time," Howard said. "Those were always fun games, great atmosphere in whatever building we played in. It's one of the rivalries I do miss playing all the time."
Howard confirmed he will start against the Blues.
Blashill watched the Blues' 3-0 shutout of the Dallas Stars Thursday night, which helped them improve to 19-8-2 (40 points).
"They've got a good record for a reason," Blashill said. They've got a very, very good D corps, one of the best in the league. They've got a good balance up front, they've got a good goalie, they're well-coached. The biggest thing I'd say is it's hard ice and it's hard to get to the middle of the ice against them and it's hard to create lots of opportunities against them so we'd better be committed to getting to the middle of the ice, we'd better be committed to a shot-first mentality and creating chaos off that shot."
The Blues lead the Central Division and have been very good on the road, with a 9-3-2 record.
"They're a tough team to play against," Howard said. "You got to play a complete game when you play them. I haven't played them in a while. I'm going to have to take a look at their systems today."
The Blues added Brayden Schenn, the former Philadelphia Flyer, in the offseason and Schenn and Jaden Schwartz lead the team with 34 points each.
"We expect them to come out hard but we focus on what we do and what we do well," Green said. "If we come out tomorrow and get that first one and get rolling right away, it should make for a good game."
It's an unusual 1 o'clock puck drop, but some players don't mind.
"I love the 1 o'clock starts, you just show up, go to the rink and play a game," Howard said. "There's no waiting around, get up and go play. Plus, when you leave the building it's still light out."
It also usually allows for players' children to attend the game, but Howard said that unfortunately won't be the case for him.
"Not tomorrow, he's got his own hockey game at 1," Howard said.