Notes: Red Wings amp up physical play

OTTAWA - If there is one aspect of their game NHL teams strive for consistency, it's being a physically imposing hockey club.
Being tough to play against and making the other team miserable for a full 60 minutes has been the Wings' mantra from day one of training camp.

Across the roster, the Red Wings will tell you as long as they're physically engaged, they have a chance to win any game.
Thursday night at the Canadian Tire Centre against the offensively charged Ottawa Senators, the Wings will need to be a physical force from the moment the puck is dropped.
"I think they're fifth in the league in scoring, I think they lead the league in D-men scoring. (Thomas) Chabot looks like he's playing at a really, really high level. (Maxime) Lajoie I don't know (him) great but offensively he looks real good." Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said after Thursday's morning skate. "So, they're a team that has done a good job of getting pucks to the slot area and lots of goals around the net front so we're going to have to do a great job with our slot coverage, a great job with getting out of our end and do everything we can to make them defend as much as we can."
According to Blashill, because Ottawa is averaging 3.4 goals per game, the Wings will need to be relentless on the forecheck to slow the Senators down.
"One thing we've talked about as a group is on a nightly basis kind of measuring our physicality and our puck battles won and if we own the lane to the puck, which is something we've talked lots about in practice," Blashill said.
He mentioned Justin Abdelkader and Darren Helm as two players who have been completely engaged during the Wings' recent winning streak.
"I think (Abdelkader) can make an impact on any game through physicality. He's not alone in that. Bert (Tyler Bertuzzi), (Michael) Rasmussen, all those guys, but certainly Abby's one of those guys that whether he's scoring or not, he can make a real positive impact on the game," Blashill said. "I think he's had a better stretch here in the last 10. I thought he worked hard this summer, I thought he came in leaner, quicker. I thought it showed in his skating, but it just wasn't quite clicking for him that first stretch like it wasn't for the rest of our team. I think he's been a real big part of us having success here lately, both 5-on-5 and on the penalty kill.
"He's also had a little bit of power play time. When he's done it, he's done a good job with that. The net presence that we saw the other night on the goal, Cholowski's goal, it was great net presence. That's something that he's brought to the table lots but I do think he's skating real well."
Abdelkader started the season off slowly but has picked up his play recently and has begun to contribute offensively. In 18 games, he has four goals among his six points and is minus-5 in 15:31 of ice time per game.
Five - including all four goals - of Abdelkader's six total points have come in Detroit's last nine games and he knows his abrasive play is a key to his offensive game.
"I want to try to bring those aspects to the game," Abdelkader said. "The game has changed for sure. It's more of a north style game where you're not seeing as many big hits in the neutral zone or open ice, it's more teams are getting pucks and going up right away and it's more of a fast transition game rather than an east-west game through the neutral zone.
"When you get a chance, you want to make sure you're finishing your checks but being physical, being hard is being hard on pucks, being hard in the offensive zone, just getting to the net. For me, trying to screen the goalie and create havoc around that area."
Helm has also been a physical spark plug for the Wings.
"We've started a lot of our team meetings on who's made the best physical impact on the game the previous game and one thing that Helmer's done tons, and I've talked about owning the lane to the puck, that means you've got a puck race, you've got two people and who's going to win the puck race and that's where he's really showed up in the physicality," Blashill said. "It hasn't been necessarily the big hits but it's winning all those loose puck races. Ultimately you got to have the puck to create offense. The difference in the game is who has the puck the most and to do it, you got to win puck races and puck battles and I think Helmer's been a big influence on that. That's why he plays on that (Dylan) Larkin line. He gets on the forecheck, he has net presence and he wins tons of pucks."
Earlier in the year, Helm said he didn't judge his game on his offensive numbers alone. He considers himself an energy guy who needs to stir things up on the ice and think defense first.
"Yeah, I think when I'm being a little bit more physical, I'm kind of forcing myself to work a little bit harder," Helm said. "When I'm working harder, opportunities, that puck luck seems to happen a little bit more. I feel like I'm a guy that has to work hard to get some luck. That's what I got to keep doing. Got a pretty lucky assist there the other night so that's part of buying in and doing things right.
"I've been playing all right. I'm always going to be a guy that wants to improve and get better so there's some areas in that game that I'm playing right now to get better continue to try to be a little bit more physical, open up the ice a little bit more for those two guys (Larkin and Anthony Mantha) and get net front and do those things that I need to do to be successful."
As engaged as the Wings have been, Blashill was quick to point out there are two other key points they need to maintain if they hope to continue their hot streak.
"The only thing I'd say is I've said what I think the key is, the key is that we scored a bit more and that our goaltending's been real good. I think if you compare this stretch to the first stretch, we've scored more for sure," Blashill said. "Have we been more engaged? I thought there were games early where we were very engaged and won lots of pucks and we didn't put them in the net.
"So I don't think you can have success in any stretch if you don't win tons of puck battles, don't win the physical battle. You have to be able to score and you have to get great goaltending, that's just the recipe for success in the league."

SENS WITHOUT KARLSSON:Thursday's game against Ottawa will be the Wings' first against the Senators in almost 10 years without having world-class defenseman Erik Karlsson as their captain.
Karlsson was traded to San Jose Sharks in September.
"It's going to be different for sure. He's such a dynamic player, he just creates so much offensively, he's real good defensively," Abdelkader said. "I think his defensive game is underrated. He's so strong on his skates, strong on the puck, can kind of be like Pav (Pavel Datsyuk) at times where he can pick you from behind.
"But credit to their team, they're playing really hard, they got a lot of good, young players that are having a good start to the season and we got to be ready for a team that's going to come out and work extremely hard."
Helm agreed with Abdelkader that Ottawa is a different team without Karlsson, but that doesn't mean they're not a competitive club.
"It'll be different. But they still have a good team, still have good forwards who can score, a D group that can compete and play well," Helm said. "Every once in a while, you see a core player from a team leave and it kind of changes the face, but they're still going to be a strong opponent and they're going to play hard, I'm sure."
ZADINA UPDATE:Just like it was when the Wings visited Montreal, Filip Zadina, Detroit's first-round pick, sixth overall, in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft was a hot topic with the Ottawa press crops.
Zadina vowed he would make the Canadiens and Senators pay for passing up on him in the draft and it's evident that Zadina is a curiosity north of the border.
On Wednesday, Zadina scored two goals in the Grand Rapids Griffins' 3-1 victory over Rockford. It was his third two-goal game of the season. In 14 games for the Griffins, Zadina has six goals, four assists and is minus-7.
When he was asked about what the report is on Zadina, Blashill was adamant that the Wings are in no rush to make him a Red Wing unless he's ready to stick in Detroit.
"We will not bring Filip Zadina up until Filip Zadina is ready to be a full-time NHL impact player. There will be no shortcuts for short-term, I don't even want to say success, but there will be no shortcuts to our long-term success here and we need Filip Zadina to ultimately become an elite player." Blashill said. "The best way to do that is not bring him into a situation where he could potentially lose confidence. He's just starting to gain confidence down there, let's let him be and keep gaining tons of confidence and hopefully keep taking steps in the right direction.
"Whenever Filip Zadina is a superstar in the American League, that's when he should come up and play. Is that in a month, is that in two years, is that in a year? I can't answer that question. But I know what you never want to do is bring young guys up before they're ready to be able to make an impact in games, especially offensive guys who that's going to be the No. 1 part of his game. "I would just say to everybody, patience is critical. When he's ready, that's when he would come up and not a second before because of the fact that we need to make sure that we're doing what's best for Filip Zadina first."