Notes: Wings suffer through tough practice after dismal game

DETROIT -- The Red Wings knew what was coming.
After a dismal effort in Monday night's 3-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes and no game on the schedule until Friday night, Wings coach Jeff Blashill put the team through a tough, battle-rich, hard skating practice.

"I knew it wasn't going to be a fun day of power play, that's for sure," forward Thomas Vanek said. "I think we have all played long enough where nobody's happy. Nobody is obviously pleased. What's going on here right now is not fun. It was to be expected."
Now 1-6-2, the Wings have too often passed up shots during games to look for an even better shot and are ranked 25th in the league at just 28 shots a game.
They experienced first-hand the way the Hurricanes do it, which is why they are first in the league at 41.8 shots a game.
"What I know for sure is that we have to shoot the puck 100 percent and we better buy into it," Blashill said. "We better buy into overshooting. We got a bunch of guys that want to make a play first and shoot second. We will continue to address that to make sure that we have an overshoot mentality.
"Now overshooting doesn't solve every problem. I think Carolina's been in the league lead in shots for the last number of years, the last time I checked they haven't made the playoffs in a long time. So that's not the end-all, be-all, it's something that a lot of people pay attention to and it's up on the scoreboard.
"But we certainly have to learn to get to the net harder and make sure we're overshooting the puck. I don't think that's a thing that's solved easy when you have a bunch of guys that are pass-first mentality guys, I think it's something that's going to have to be reminded and drove home to them and when you don't do it you have an immediate consequence, which is obviously what you saw there today when we didn't shoot the puck and we skated them. We'll just keep doing it 'till we learn how to shoot the puck."
While shooting isn't the only answer, Vanek acknowledged that perhaps the Wings could learn from the Hurricanes' example.
"I mean, sometimes I've passed up shots, too, because I see something better," Vanek said. "Again, I think we can take something from Carolina last night. What they were doing was shooting it from the corner, almost behind the net and creating offense that way. Maybe we can take a page out of their book."
GREEN RETURN IMMINENT: Although he did not play in Monday night's game, veteran defenseman Mike Green was paying the price for it along with his teammates as he practiced fully with them at the BELFOR Training Center.
It was a good sign and even better news afterward,
"I think we'll assess today and then be in the next couple games," Green said. "It was a good test. I kind of needed to see where I'm at and that was a good way. It was a good skate today."
Blashill was even more definitive.
"We hope to have him in Friday," Blashill said. "I don't know that yet but we hope to have him in Friday."
Green has been watching the games but can't really say what the main problem has been.
"We got to get some momentum here," Green said. "We got to build off of it. We just got to go back to the foundation and the root of it all, which is hard work, and doing the simple things and then you slowly build. But I think that's the key is try to get some momentum here."
Defenseman Danny DeKeyser, who has missed the last four games after aggravating a hand injury, could play as early as Sunday.
"It would be nice," Blashill said. "Danny and Mike, you can say whatever you want, they're real good defensemen in this league, top four on most teams in the league and we'd like to have them back."
HRONEK SENT DOWN: After being a healthy scratch the last three games, Filip Hronek is going to play -- but not in Detroit.
The Wings sent Hronek down to the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins Tuesday after practice.
"I think they play this week twice in Belleville so he'll be able to get playing there a little bit," Blashill said. "Actually, I like Fil, I think he's got a real bright future. He's 20 years old, he's not going to be 21 'till November 2. He needs to make sure he's playing in the situations, both power play and I'm hoping he gets penalty kill time so he can bring different things to the table. He didn't kill many penalties last year so we're hoping that's another asset he can bring."
Hronek had one goal, two assists and was minus-2 in six games.
"He was a first-year pro last year," Blashill said. "Not old but he can play everything. He ended up really focusing on the power play and did an excellent job. Now, as a second-year pro, he's obviously a good power play guy, not let's get him to where he's a real good penalty killer. And then if you're a player and you're a power play guy and a penalty killer and good five on five guy you get way more chances to make teams and make yourself important on the team. Ultimately right now, the one difference between him and (Joe) Hicketts is that Hicketts is a penalty killer and on our team it sets up a little bit better to make sure we have enough guys that are natural penalty killers. Not saying he can't learn but it's a hard league to learn in. So, let's go down. He was great, he understands, he wants to play. He would rather play than sit in the stands. He knows there's things he's got to get better at. He's had a good taste of what he's good at and what he needs to get better at and go down, in only his second year here, and try to be a real good defenseman in the league."
RASMUSSEN REMAINING: Rookie forward Michael Rasmussen has played in seven games and has one assist.
As a 19-year-old, Rasmussen can up to play nine NHL games without burning a year of his entry-level deal.
But the Wings are not worried about that right now.
"We'll take probably a long-term look at that," Blashill said. "We don't necessarily have to decide by the 10th game. Our feel is we'd like to continue to take a long-term development look at that."
The Wings can keep Rasmussen around for practices without playing him.
"There's a possibility he's not in the lineup on Friday but even with that, we're not going to let necessarily the 10 games dictate 100 percent what we do," Blashill said. "We will continue to evaluate it to make what we think is the best long-term decision for him."