Notes: Hirose looking to shoot a little more

DETROIT -- If you look at Taro Hirose's statistics at Michigan State and since's he's played in the NHL, it's obvious that he is a pass-first forward.
In three seasons at MSU, Hirose had 116 points, 83 of them assists.

In his 10-game stint with the Red Wings last spring, Hirose had six assists among his seven points, which included an assist in each of his first five games.
This season, Hirose has two assists in eight games, both on the power play.
Currently, Hirose has four shots, tied with Trevor Daley (in four games) and Valtteri Filppula (eight games) for third fewest on the team.
Christoffer Ehn has two shots in six games and Madison Bowey does not have a shot in four games.
"I think it's just trying to attack a little bit more," Hirose said after the team's optional morning skate at Little Caesars Arena. "The first couple of games, I was a little too passive, not enough zone time. But now I'm feeling better out there. I had a couple of chances last game. I think I had that opportunity to score, so just continue to improve each game and just try to get some more stuff toward the net."

Wings coach Jeff Blashill hasn't seen anything out of the ordinary in Hirose's low shot total.
"I don't see him passing up a whole bunch of shots," Blashill said. "I don't think he has on the power play. I think he's taken shots when he's had the opportunity to. Does he shoot enough? Has he had the opportunity to shoot a whole bunch? I don't remember him passing up a whole bunch of shots like that.
"He's actually worked hard on his shot. I think he's more confident in his shot, so it's not one of those things where I've got a ton of examples on tape where he had an opportunity to shoot and he didn't shoot it. For me, that hasn't been the issue. It's probably more that he hasn't been in a whole bunch of those opportunities to create offense. When he has, it hasn't gone in the net."

Hirose said there haven't been a ton of opportunities to shoot, but he does have more of a shooting mindset than in the past.
"I think in the past, there's been times where I've passed up shots and tried to make that extra pass but right now, I think I'm happy with my decisions but I'm definitely just looking to attack a little bit more," Hirose said.
CANUCKS AGAIN: It was just a week ago that the Red Wings played the Canucks in Vancouver and it did not turn out to be a pleasant night.
The Canucks (5-3-0) scored three power-play goals en route to a 5-1 home victory.
"There's a little bit of redemption," Hirose said. "We've still got that bitter taste in our mouths of that game. I don't think we played the way we wanted to. Let's come back out here and have a better showing."

Once again, Elias Pettersson is leading the way with eight points (2-6-8) in eight games.
"I'm a big Pettersson fan," Blashill said. "I think he's way different than most of the guys in the league that are coming up. He's more of a savvy, smooth, really smart, where a lot of guys that are coming up do it with their skating and their explosiveness, like I talked about with Quinn Hughes. I'm a big Pettersson fan. Does he look the same? He looks really good to me. I hope he doesn't look good tonight."
Tied with Pettersson for the team lead in points is J.T. Miller, who has four goals and four assists.
The Canucks traded goaltender Marek Mazanec, a 2019 third-round draft pick and a 2020 conditional draft pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Miller.
Then there's Quinn Hughes, who is ninth in rookie scoring with one goal and three assists in eight games.
Blashill, who coached Hughes on Team USA at the IIHF World Championship the last two seasons, is high on the young defenseman.
"I think some of the things that maybe he wasn't great at throughout that season going into the draft, he had already shown improvement in. Like his shot, for example," Blashill said. "I thought when I watched him on the ice, I saw a guy that could shoot a puck and I thought his technique was excellent so as his strength improved, his shot was going to get way better. I really liked Quinn when I had him. He did a really good job for us. Could I predict he's top four a year later with a team that's winning? I don't know that you can ever predict that for certain.
"But I like a couple things about Quinn. I like he cares a ton, he loves hockey, he wants to be a hockey player, he's got big-time passion for hockey and he's willing to get better. So he's willing to listen, to learn and get better so if you care a ton and you're going to work at it and you're willing to listen to Greener (Canucks coach Travis Green) and get better, you're going to maximize your ability and that's what Quinn does. I'm a big fan of Quinn."
ROSTER MOVES: After the morning skate, the Red Wings made a few roster moves.

The team recalled forward Evgeny Svechnikov from the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins, assigned defenseman Alex Biega to the Griffins, placed forward Adam Erne (upper body) on injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 18 and removed defenseman Jonathan Ericsson from injured reserve.

According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, Ericsson has also been placed on waivers.
CHOLOWSKI'S STATUS: Defenseman Dennis Cholowski, a late scratch in Edmonton with an upper-body injury, took part in the optional morning skate.
"We're still waiting on a few words," Blashill said. "We'll know more tonight."