Notes: Wings thinking north-south, get traffic to net

DETROIT - Despite the 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets Friday night, the Red Wings believe there were things that they did well.
They did not take a penalty, other than Steve Ott's fighting major, they won 62 percent of their face-offs and they had 33 shots on goal.

"I thought in the first and third there were times where we could have gone north and decided to not," Wings coach Jeff Blashill said Saturday. "We have to continue to harp upon the fact that we have to continue to be a team that plays up the ice as fast as we can. We're becoming a better O-zone team so if we get pucks behind people and play in the other team's end, we have a better chance to produce more offense.
"And the other thing I think we have to continue to do is to be more determined to get to the net and more determined to put pucks to the net. I still think we pass up shots to try make plays and we just have to understand that it's going to be lost of shots, lots of shots, lots of tips around the net and lots of chaos around the net."
Thomas Vanek had four shots and set up the Wings' only goal, Dylan Larkin's power play tally early in the second period.
"You can't win many games with one," Vanek said. "(Sergei) Bobrovsky stole the game for them, in my opinion, just like Jimmy and Petr have stolen games for us. That's going to happen and hopefully it evens out at the end of the year."
Tatar, who had three shots, agreed with Vanek that it was Bobrovsky that made the difference. "We did a pretty good job, unfortunately we get bad bounce, they went in and Bob was playing really well for them," Tatar said. "We couldn't score. I mean, just the way sometimes how the game goes. But in the long run, I feel like if we play this kind of game, we will able to win these games. We just have to keep climbing and play better and every day getting better."
Tatar and his line with Henrik Zetterberg and Anthony Mantha have been together for a while and they have been making that effort to move north-south and get to the net.
"(Mantha's) playing real well, he's strong on the puck, that's what we need," Tatar said. "He's a bigger guy, he can hold onto it. I feel like the chemistry is there. We just have to score more. I feel like me, Mantha and Z, we all have a chance, we can be more productive, that's for sure. We can create some bigger chances. We just have to find a way to score and help the team this way, too."
Vanek has playmaking ability in addition to scoring ability and he's been trying to help his line mates, Riley Sheahan and Gustav Nyquist, get going offensively.
"I think they're playing well but obviously they're pressing and they want to get the goal, so I'm trying to get the puck to them," Vanek said. "Shea played great last night and probably deserved a lot better than zero at the end of the night. I told him to keep going. It will come if he plays that way. I felt that last night, even though we lost I thought it was a step in the right direction."
FLYERS ROLLING: After the Wings finally won a game in Philadelphia for the first time in 19 years on Nov. 8 in a shootout, the Flyers slumped to 3-4-1 in their next eight games.
But since then, the Flyers have won seven in a row going into Saturday afternoon's game against the Dallas Stars.
"That's a good team," Vanek said. "I think we've got to be good defensively, like we have been for the most part. We've just got to score some goals. We've got to establish a little better home ice here. We're struggling on home ice. We've just got to get some momentum early, get the fans behind us and keep that momentum going."
Blashill said the Flyers are an improved team from last season.
"They've got lots of scoring from the back end," Blashill said. "That's one thing they've done this year to a much greater degree than a year ago. They play hard. They play physical. Dave Hakstol's teams have always done that. I've known Dave a long time. I think Claude Giroux is kind of the motor on that team. He's one of the best players in the NHL and they've gotten great goaltending. Like every night in this league it'll be a great challenge tomorrow."
For the Philadelphia defensemen, Mark Streit has five goals and 10 assists, Shayne Gostisbehere has four goals and 11 assists and rookie Ivan Provorov has three goals and 10 assists.
The Flyers are second to Columbus on the power play, hitting on 23.6 percent of their chances.
"We have to focus on ourselves, play our game," Tatar said. "Columbus is pretty good right now, too, and I think we managed the game pretty well. I guess the result is not what we wanted but against Philly, we have to play our way and play good and we have a chance to win."
LINEUP FOR PHILLY: Defenseman Jonathan Ericsson missed his first game of the season Friday with back spasms. Blashill said he was day-to-day.
Blashill said he would speak with the training staff and determine the lineup for Sunday.
Goaltender Petr Mrazek started Friday but yielded to Jimmy Howard at 13:30 of the second period after giving up three goals on 17 shots.
"I didn't love putting him in goal coming off (injury), but I felt there was enough time," Blashill said. "And ultimately if he's on our bench he's got to be available to play and so I think he felt real comfortable. I think the first practice he had was an adjustment getting back to full practice but then the pregame skate he did yesterday - I know (goaltending coach) Jeff Salajko said he felt like he looked more comfortable and he looked comfortable in the net last night."
Blashill declined to name a goaltender before Sunday.
Howard returned after missing six games with a groin injury.