Wings all know that the toughest game in any series is the one to close things out

CHICAGO – If the Detroit Red Wings haven’t seen the best from the Chicago Blackhawks through the first four games of their Western Conference semifinal series, they’ll for sure see it Saturday night at the United Center.

The Blackhawks are at the point where it’s win-or-go-home, trailing the Wings 3-1 in the best-of-seven series.

“It’s like every game that you play in the playoffs, it’s the most important one that you can play and they get harder and harder,” Wings coach Mike Babcock said at the team hotel in downtown Chicago. “We know that they’re a desperate team. I’d like to think that we’ll be desperate as well. You want to be as prepared as the opportunity is important and we have to play that hard.”

After dropping Game 1, 4-1, Detroit has won the last three games in the series, outscoring Chicago by a combined 9-2 over that stretch.

“It’s important, but it’s also the most difficult, knocking a team out of the playoffs,” goalie Jimmy Howard. “You’re expecting them to come out and play extremely hard, extremely urgent (Saturday) night and we’re going to have to be extremely focused at the same time.”

This is the Blackhawks’ first three-game losing streak this season. They had just three two-game losing streaks during the regular season.

“Our thing is it’s a race to four,” forward Daniel Cleary said. “Those guys are champions, they’re winners, they know the toughest game ever is the one to eliminate a team. We have to be ready. It’s going to be the hardest game we’ve played all season.”

Chicago began the season 21-0-3 and sprinted its way to the Presidents’ Trophy.

“They had a sense of urgency realizing the importance of the game (Thursday), but knowing some of those guys and their mindsets they know that they can win three in a row, they’ve done it the whole year.”

And what a difference a couple weeks make.

The Wings were on the verge of being eliminated from the playoffs by Anaheim in Game 6 at Joe Louis, only to win that game in overtime and then ousting the Ducks in Game 7 on the road.

“We learned a lot,” forward Henrik Zetterberg said. “As a team here, the last two weeks and so far in the playoffs we’ve done a lot of good things. We did a few bad things. We lost a lead in the third a couple times and we won a few in overtime. I think we got a lot of experience the last month or so and I think it’s good for the club.”

In the opening series with the Ducks the Wings lost a three-goal lead and a two-goal lead in the third period only to rebound and win the games in overtime.

They also never held a games-lead in the series until taking Game 7.

Then, the Wings were outplayed in the opener with the Blackhawks over the final two periods after an even opening 20 minutes.

“Game 1 wasn’t the game we wanted to play,” Cleary said. “We regrouped and had a good Game 2. Obviously Game 3 was another good game, we got some timely scoring from depth players and (Thursday) night was just a battle all game and we just came out ahead. The turn of the series, I don’t know if the series has turned, we’re just in the lead.”

Every player and coach knows the importance of getting out to a good start Saturday.

“The start is important every night,” Babcock said. “I didn’t think we were very good (Thursday), we gave up 14 shots and were very loose in the first period, turned the puck over and weren’t sharp. We got better as the game went on, we got eight in the second and six in the third, so we need to start on time tomorrow, for sure. I think when you’re on the road that first 10 minutes are always important.”

“The lead is important, the start is important,” Cleary said. “You want to go out and play a good road game. Their building is going to be loud and we have to keep our minds real sharp and play real loose. We can’t play tight.”

Since the Presidents’ Trophy was introduced in 1985-86, the Wings are 2-1 in the playoffs against the team that won it. They beat Colorado (1997) and Dallas (1998) and lost to Edmonton (1987).

“I guess the way that I look at it is when you’re coaching and playing it usually doesn’t matter to you what the people on the outside think,” Babcock said when asked about being in a position that no one felt they would be at against the Blackhawks. “It matters what you think and we think we have a good group and we’re determined to keep playing and we have a tough task ahead of us but we’re excited for our opportunity.”

The last time the Wings won consecutive series as the lower-seeded team was 1997.

Blackhawks “need to be more on the edge”

DETROIT – If anything, the Detroit Red Wings have gotten the full attention of the Chicago Blackhawks.

And at the end of the Wings’ 3-1 win Monday night in Game 3 of their best-of-seven Western Conference tempers began to boil over.

The rough stuff began when Chicago defenseman Duncan Keith skated by and took a cheap shot at Damien Brunner to draw a minor for roughing with the Blackhawks trialing 3-1 with six minutes to play in the third period.

“It’s always a fine line not to get penalties and play on the edge,” Chicago defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson said. “We’ve had really good penalty killing so far in these playoffs, but we know they have a lot of skilled players who can make a difference in a game if we give them too many power plays. It’s a fine line there, but you’ve got to play tough. It’s obviously a different level in the playoffs. If you could play a little bit harder on their top guys, that would be good I think.”

With a minute to play, Blackhawks forward Bryan Bickell was assessed a cross checking penalty on Daniel Cleary, while the Wings forward was defenseless on the ice.

“Just playing like that doesn’t give us the green light to take unnecessary or undisciplined penalties,” Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. “There’s always a discipline that goes behind everything we talk about, whether it’s playing with a purpose … but the purpose of discipline is No. 1.”

The final penalty was on Chicago forward Andrew Shaw, a 10-minute misconduct with 13 seconds left in regulation.

“We need to be more on the edge, like we played last game,” Chicago forward Marian Hossa said. “We have great intensity and I felt like lots of energy. Also, you don’t want to go over the board and take bad penalties, because they’ve got really good players on the power play. You have to be smart about it.”

Things were actually quite chippy in the first period.

Just four minutes in, Andrew Shaw caught Brendan Smith with an elbow.

Later, Brent Seabrook knocked Daniel Cleary off balance sending him crashing into the net and then into the end boards. Keith then motioned like he was going to push the net over top of Cleary while he was on the ice.

Detroit’s only power play of the period came as a result of a scrum in the front of Howard between all the players on the at the time. Kyle Quincey and Bickell were both assessed two-minute unsportsmanlike penalties, while Shaw got the extra two for roughing.

“I think at the end, you could definitely see some of the frustration coming out,” Jonathan Ericsson said. “After whistles, they were maybe paying too much attention to us. They were doing things after whistles. That’s a good thing for us, if we can get them frustrated. We want to do that all day to them.”

Wings coach Mike Babcock isn’t ready to say that his squad has gotten under the Blackhawks’ skin.

“It’s playoff hockey,” Babcock said. “So it’s going to be battles out there and you don’t want to lose any of those battles. It’s going to be tough to play and I think we’re just going to have to keep doing the same things.”

Conversely, the Wings didn’t lose their temper in their 4-1 loss in Game 1.

“I think it’s a little bit of anger about what we are doing right now,” Blackhawks defenseman Michal Rozsival said. “We (didn’t) want to get behind 2-1 against an opponent like this. I think everybody is kind of, not happy, with the way we’ve played and I think it’s a good thing. It can give us a boost of energy. Playing with a little bit of anger going forward, you know, it’s not a bad thing. I think it’s going to help us (going) into Game 4 and obviously we have to play better and step up our game.”

Abdelkader given a two-game suspension; he’s the third Wing to be suspended by Shanahan

DETROIT – Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock didn’t view Justin Abdelkader’s hit on Anaheim defenseman Toni Lydman as illegal.

The league felt otherwise.

Abdelkader, who was given a five-minute major for charging and assessed a game misconduct for the hit that occurred with five minutes left in Game 2 on Saturday, was suspended for two games by the league.

Former Wing Brendan Shanahan is in charge of player safety for the league.

“To me, I watched the hit again and, holy mackerel,” Babcock said before knowing the outcome of Abdelkader’s hearing. “I don’t know what you’re going to be suspended for, but that’s me. You turn the video and pretend that there was contact to the head maybe you can find something, but a guy is gliding, goes through a guy, I don’t know.”

Abdelkader’s hearing lasted 45 minutes with the league.

“None. None,” Babcock said if Abdelkader had any contact with Lydman’s head. “I think it was shoulder to shoulder, bent knees going into a guy and exploding through him. Should be guy saw you coming (and braces) in time. I think if you turn the video and you look at it from (another) angle coming in and you don’t see what is actually happening you can think that, but I don’t see that at all.

“But if I’m coaching them I can find a way to see it different or playing for them,” Babcock continued. “I know we have to protect the athletes, but I also know it’s a physical game. I thought it was pretty good contact.”

Abdelkader did not meet with the media after the game or Sunday.

“It’s a hard thing to talk about when it’s your own teammate,” forward Daniel Cleary said. “Certainly Abby has no history of this. He’s not a guy that targets people. It was a hard hit.

“I think players are a lot more aware (of headshots),” Cleary added. “We’ve all seen the head shots through the last couple of years and especially since Shanny’s come out with his videos and what he deems legal versus illegal. The onus has to fall on the player that’s given the hit and also, you have to protect yourself out there. You have to be aware at all times and sometimes, you can’t. Toni last night didn’t see Abby. I think he came from his blind side maybe. We all agree that we don’t want anyone to get hurt out there, but it’s a fast game and decisions come very quickly.”

With the loss of Abdelkader the Wings have a major problem with their forward units.

“It definitely would be a big loss for us,” goalie Jimmy Howard said. “He’s one of the forwards that uses his speed, gets in on the forecheck and gets in there and bangs for us. He’s not afraid to go to the dirty areas in front of the net and create havoc. So it would definitely be a loss for us.”

When he left the game Saturday, Babcock tried playing Damien Brunner, Gustav Nyquist and Joakim Andersson on the top line with Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk.

“He’s a physical guy and he creates a lot of space and time and me and (Pavel Datsyuk),” said Zetterberg, who added that he fully expected Abdelkader not to be suspended. “He works really hard on the forecheck and gives us the puck and after that he goes to the front of the net and screens the goalie and is there for rebounds. I enjoy playing with him and look forward to playing with him tomorrow.”

They could also move Johan Franzen up front, but that’s not Babcock’s top choice.

“Then we’re kind of a one line team,” Babcock said Saturday. “When you’re really deep and you lose people it’s no big deal. When you’re like us and not as deep it’s a hard thing to deal with.

“It’s not as good,” added Babcock on Saturday. “We don’t have anyone with weight to play there. That’s the bottom line.”

Detroit’s other options would be to breakup Zetterberg and Datsyuk or added Mikael Samuelsson or Todd Bertuzzi, who was a healthy scratch after playing in Game 2, to the line.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Babcock said. “I put 23 guys on the sheet and told them all to get ready to play and I’ll decide (Monday). It just bides me some time.”

Defenseman Niklas Kronwall, who’s known for his bone-crushing hits on the ice, hasn’t changed how he delivers checks in the open ice since the league began cracking down on head shots.

“Maybe I hit more with my shoulder blade really than maybe I did in the past,” Kronwall said. “Other than that, I don’t think I’ve tried to change too much. You always try to hit the guy square. If you don’t, you get in trouble. I thought the hit (Saturday), I haven’t seen enough replays as far as the charging aspect of it, but just seeing the brief replay looked like a shoulder to shoulder to me.”

Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau updated Lydman’s condition.

“He’s got a stiff neck and bright lights are bugging him, so I don’t know when that’s not going to be there,” Boudreau said. “So if we’re going minute-by-minute and day-by-day (Monday) is very questionable for him.

“I think it’s a big loss,” Boudreau added. “I mean, he’s played very valuable minutes down the stretch and he’s played in big playoff games in the past whether it was with Anaheim, whether it was with Buffalo, whomever. He doesn’t rattle easily. He’s one of those guys that you don’t see a lot of flash from, but at the end of the day he doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. He’s a very strong individual. We’re hoping that he comes back from this pretty soon. We can use him all of the time.”

Abdelkader is the third Wing to get suspended under Shanahan’s watch.

Defenseman Kyle Quincey was suspended one game last season for a charging incident on Florida’s Tomas Kopecky where he left his feet on the play.

In 2011, defenseman Brendan Smith was suspended eight games, three of which were in the final three games of the preseason, for a check to the head of Chicago’s Ben Smith.

Franzen heating up at right time

DETROIT – Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock moved Johan Franzen to center on April 5 in Colorado to engage his power forward more.

The move lasted all of two games, but it seems to have done the trick.

Franzen has scored half of his season total in goals over these last seven games to help keep the Wings in playoff contention down the stretch.

“He’s been unbelievable,” forward Patrick Eaves said. “You can’t get the puck off him when he’s playing like this. We really need that. I’m glad he’s on our side and hopefully he continues this into May and June … and July.”

Franzen has 14 goals on the year in 40 games, which ranks second on the team. He also has 17 assists.

To help keep the engagement going, Babcock has had Franzen killing penalties now as well after Drew Miller suffered a broken hand in Vancouver last Saturday.

“He’s very engaged,” Babcock said. “I don’t know if that’s because he’s penalty killing now and playing more. He’s not sitting on the bench (as much), he’s a big man. Sometimes when you’re not penalty killing you’re sitting there. You (don’t) kill penalties, you sit there and watch and as a big man, I don’t know if that’s part of it. But he’s always engaged this time of year. He’s important for us, a huge man with great hands. He’s become a leader on this team. I think he’s really emerged that way this year.”

Franzen has been known to score in bunches.

It’s what happens when he’s not scoring that’s been the problem over this career. He tends to have long stretches where he’s quite ineffective on the ice and has little impact on the game.

“He’s a great player, big, strong and quick on his feet,” said forward Valtteri Filppula, who centers the Wings’ second line with Franzen and Daniel Cleary. “Plus, he’s got a good set of hands. He’s been important for us, scoring some key goals down the stretch and everybody knows how he plays in the playoffs, so it’s a good start that he’s playing well right now.”

In 88 career playoff games, Franzen has 38 goals and 35 assists.

“We need to win here down the stretch so it’s all about playing the way we do,” Franzen said after Thursday’s 5-2 win over Nashville. “We get pucks to the net and we get traffic. We really haven’t been doing that here. We’ve been trying to make the fancy plays on the outside and hoping for an open net somewhere. It doesn’t work like that. You’ve got to play like this and that’s when you start scoring.”

Wings want offense from ‘creative’ Filppula

DETROIT – Detroit Red Wings forward Daniel Cleary noticed something different about Valtteri Filppula at the team’s morning skate Monday at Joe Louis Arena.

Filppula was shooting the puck more than normal.

And shooting the puck is what the Wings want more out of the forward who has struggled to come close to last season’s career numbers he put up.

“He’s got a good shot, but obviously he’s a creative player and creative players like to pass,” Cleary said. “Just like (Pavel Datsyuk) or (Henrik Zetterberg), he likes to pass first. It’s just in them. But certainly when they decide to shoot the puck on net, even late in the season, that’s when they’re going to score goals. It’s good to see it, because he’s an important player for us.”

Filppula scored the Wings’ third power play goal in Monday night’s 4-0 win over Phoenix.

“It’s different seeing Fil shoot the puck on a two-on-one,” Cleary said of Filppula’s goal that he one-timed after a pass from Zetterberg to beat Mike Smith on the short side. “He probably could have had three (Monday), for sure.”

The goal was Filppula’s first in eight games and just his second in the last 17 games, giving him eight on the season.

“It’s just great, get a goal, we needed him to get a goal, to be an important player, to be on the inside, shoot pucks, be dominant for us,” Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “We count on him for that. Ideally, (that) goal will help him take a step for us.”

Filppula had a career-high 23 goals last season to go along with a career-best 43 assists. He has 16 points in 38 games this season.

“Obviously I don’t think I’ve been playing as well as I should, but at the same time I’ve been trying to do the same things that I have been doing,” Filppula said. “I’ve been feeling pretty good out there of late and hopefully I can keep on improving.”

Filppula is in the final of a contract that’s paying him $3 million. He’s reportedly looking for a deal that will give him a $2 million increase per season.

“It’s always tough especially when your team (doesn’t) get wins, that’s the most important thing,” Filppula said. “You want to help the team to win. I’m getting a lot of ice time so you hope you can help the team more when you can. It’s frustrating. I feel like I’ve had good games, but you need to produce when you get to play that much and that’s something that I haven’t been able to do and hopefully that changes.”

Babcock juggles up forward lines; Brunner expects to be back Thursday

DETROIT — Wings coach Mike Babcock is trying to generate more offense up front so therefore has decided to juggle up his forward units.

“San Jose’s spread their group out,” Babcock said after practice Tuesday. “We need to generate, we don’t want to give up any more chances against and we want to be solid defensively and continue that way, but we’d like to generate more offense.”

Babcock moved Drew Miller up with Johan Franzen and Gustav Nyquist, while having Valtteri Filppula center a line with Damien Brunner and Daniel Cleary.

“By doing this we can generate more offense,” Babcock said. “We feel Fil, Brunns, Clears that’s a pretty good line. Fil’s been a good centerman for us. We like what Mule’s been doing here and we’re just going to spread our lineup out and go a little bit deeper.”

Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Justin Abdelkader make up the top line.

“With the line I’m on right now, Mule’s big and strong and can play with the puck, Gus is a skilled player that’s going to get the puck and work hard,” Miller said. “I’ve just got to get out there and get the puck from the corner, get in front of the net. We’re just looking for a balanced lineup. We’ll see if it sticks, if not whatever line I’m on I’ll play the same every night.”

Brunner is expected to return to the lineup Thursday after missing three games with a hip flexor.

Wings get a much needed bounce back win

DETROIT – One of the best things about this shortened NHL season is that after a clunker one night you have a chance to redeem yourself a day later.

The Wings did just that Monday night at Joe Louis Arena.

Jimmy Howard made 22 saves and the Wings got goals from Justin Abdelkader, Daniel Cleary and Damien Brunner to skate past Colorado, 3-2.

“That’s the best part about this season is we get a game right away to clear our minds and get refocused,” said Abdelkader, who has seven goals this year. “Sunday’s game was obviously not the way we wanted to play, a big disappointment but it was a better effort tonight.”

The Wings lost to Chicago on Sunday, 7-1.

“It was good to get right back at it,” said forward Johan Franzen, who had a pair of assists. “No one was happy with the way we played (Sunday). We came out stronger tonight. It got tight in the end, but we pulled it off.”

“It was great for us,” said Howard, who was pulled after allowing four goals to the Blackhawks on Sunday. “The key was keeping it simple early. We just got the puck deep and went to work and went to work. We weren’t turning it over like we were (Sunday afternoon). That was huge for us and we were able to build a lead.”

Jamie McGinn and Steve Duchene each scored third period goals for the Avalanche, while Semyon Varlamov made 10 saves before being pulled for Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who stopped all seven shots he faced.

“We took care of the puck, we were prepared to play, we got good goaltending, the whole thing,” Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “We weren’t very good last night. The guys responded. On a back-to-back it was a real big win for our team. We needed it. I thought we could have been more solid in the third period but still a good win for our team.”

Abdelkader opened the scoring with just over four minutes left in the first period, batting in a puck out of midair.

Franzen’s shot hit Varlamov high on his blocker, bounced straight up and Abdelkader bunted it home.

“I did my best to try and get my stick on the puck and with the Tigers opening the season I wanted to see how I would stack up bunting the puck into the net,” Abdelkader said.

Cleary made it 2-0 Wings with a power play goal.

Franzen had all the time in the world at the side the Colorado goal after taking a feed from Pavel Datsyuk before feathering a pass to Cleary, who jammed it home.

Just over three minutes later, Brunner scored his first goal to snap a 15-game goalless streak.

Gustav Nyquist did a great job keeping the puck in the zone, working it back in and then firing a pass to Brunner for the one timer that spelled the end to Varlamov’s night.

Brunner then gave Nyquist a much relived embrace.

“It was good for him, real relief for a goal scorer,” Babcock said. “Like most goal scorers he’s probably streaky. When you get it going you feel it, next thing you know you’re shooting the puck more. Gus made a real nice play for him.”

Brunner is tied for the team lead in goal scored with Datsyuk. They both have 11.

“He’s a goal scorer,” Franzen said. “It’s tough when you don’t score when you’re a goal scorer. He found a great spot and it was (Nyquist) that made a great pass to him and he doesn’t miss from there. He’s got a great shot, so good for him.”

The Wings let their foot off the gas in the third as Colorado made things close.

McGinn spoiled the Wings’ shutout bid, backhanding a puck past a seemingly defenseless Howard when his stick was knocked out of hands after a mad scramble ensued in his crease. The goal came on the power play six minutes into the third period.

Then Duchene made it real interesting, gloving down a puck in the Wings’ zone and firing a shot past Howard.

Howard preserved the win after robbing PA Parenteau with glove save with seven seconds left in regulation.

“It was trying to take everything away,” Howard said of the save. “He was at a bad angle and if that goes in, it’s completely on me.

“They’re a hardworking team,” Howard added. “They don’t quit. They’re young, they’re fast. They want to get into a track meet with you. For us to be successful against them, you got to play the grind game, keep them on the wall and not let them come flying through the neutral zone.”

Colorado lost 12 straight on road.

Huskins dealt to Flyers to clear spot for Danny DeKeyser; Franzen and Samuelsson cleared to play

DETROIT — Quick update from Wings practice Saturday.

The team dealt defenseman Kent Huskins to Philadelphia for a conditional seventh-round draft pick in 2014.

The move frees up a roster spot for defenseman Danny DeKeyser, who agreed to a deal with the Wings Friday.

DeKeyser won’t play Sunday, but will be on the 23-man roster once the NHL approves his two-year contract.

Huskins, 32, has been a healthy scratch the last 15 games. He was signed when the Wings were desperate for defenseman at the start of the season and played in 11 games.

Forwards Johan Franzen and Mikael Samuelsson have both been cleared to play Sunday.

Wings coach Mike Babcock said he won’t make a lineup decision until game time.

At practice Drew Miller skated on one of the Wings’ top two forward lines, alongside Henrik Zetterberg and Valtteri Filppula. Daniel Cleary and Justin Abdelkader skated with Pavel Datsyuk.

It’s official, the Detroit Red Wings are heading the Eastern Conference

It’s official, the Detroit Red Wings are heading the Eastern Conference.

“That’s great news,” forward Daniel Cleary said. “Everyone should be happy, especially in Detroit.”

The NHL’s board of governors approved the new four-division realignment plan, which will take effect next season, that will have the Wings playing in a Division with three Original Six teams, Boston, Montreal and Toronto, along with Ottawa, Buffalo, Florida and Tampa Bay.

“I like the travel,” Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “Some of my favorite cities in the world are Toronto, Boston and Montreal.”

Columbus will also move from the West to the East, which will house of 16 of the league’s 30 teams.

“That’s going to be pretty cool,” defenseman Brendan Smith said. “The travel schedule is always tough on us because we’re having to travel so far a lot of times. It seems like we should be in the East.

“For me, to get to play Toronto more because it’s back home that’s pretty cool,” Smith continued. “I think some people think after you watch the game and turn off the TV you’re done. We maybe have an eight hour trip home. There is a lot of wear and tear on the body.”

The other divisions would look this this: Division A (Anaheim, Calgary, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose and Vancouver); Division B (Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis and Winnipeg); Division D (Carolina, Columbus, New Jersey, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Washington).

“We’ve traveled back and forth, across the United States quite a bit,” goalie Jimmy Howard said. “To move to the East I think that would be a lot of fun to play a lot of games in the Eastern Time Zone. It would be great for our fans too, not having to stay up until all hours of the night to watch us. I think the travel sometimes takes years off of all of our lives. It’s one of those things that you have to deal with.”

The Wings will be in Division C. Permanent names for the divisions will be given at a later date.

“Anybody that’s played in Detroit understands the rigors of going out west, and the hard part is coming home, when you lose that much time,” Cleary said. “We have one team in our conference in our time zone. It’s taxing but we’ve been doing it for a lot of years. It would be great to move over.”

The playoffs will consist of 16 teams, eight in each conference. It will be division based and a wild card system will be added.

Also, there will be home and away games against each team in the other conference.

“That way all the fans get to see the Crosbys, the Datsyuks and the Zetterbergs,” Kronwall said.

Currently, the style of hockey in the East seems more wide open whereas in the West it’s more a grind-out kind of game.

“It won’t be hard to adjust to it at all,” Cleary said. “It’s not like we’re going to a harder conference, no offense. It’s different conferences. I don’t want to say one is easier than the other all I know is the West is a tough Conference. I’ve never played in the East so take that for what it’s worth.”

A Western Conference team has won the Cup in four out of the past six seasons.

“You see in the East there are a lot of high scoring games,” Smith said. “In the West it’s all low scoring and close one- or two-goal games. The styles are different. It won’t be hard to adjust. We just have to play our style and our team likes to dictate the game anyway.”

The plan will be re-evaluated after the 2015-16 season.

Last year, the Board of Governors approved a switch to four seven- or eight-team conferences, but the players’ association refused to agree to the change.

That proposal so the Wings in an eight-team conference, along with current Central Division foes Chicago, Columbus, Nashville and St. Louis, while adding Dallas, Minnesota and Winnipeg to the mix.

Wings going with same lineup tonight

DETROIT — Quick update from the Wings’ optional morning skate.

Wings coach Mike Babacock said he’s going with the same group of forwards and defensemen he’s used over the last three games tonight against the Colorado Avalanche, which means defensemen Ian White and Kent Huskins are healthy scratches.

Jimmy Howard will start in goal.

Justin Abdelkader will continue to play on a line to Pavel Datsyuk and Daniel Cleary.

Abdelkader has no goals and just one assist in 22 games this season.

“I’ve just got to keep doing all the small things, keep shooting, putting the puck on net and hope for some breaks,” Abdelkader said after the morning skate. “I haven’t gotten much puck luck. I’ve just go to keep going to the net and all the hard areas and eventually I’ll find the back of the net.”