Rough stuff

DETROIT >> Of the seven penalties the Wings drew Sunday, four were for roughing.

“Emotions are running high,” Darren Helm said. “(Milan) Lucic said it pretty well after he got (Danny) DeKeyser, emotions sometimes get the best of you. Last night I thought that’s what happened. Emotions are running high, we got into some scrums that we shouldn’t be getting into. We’re a team that plays between the whistles, not after the whistles.”

“It’s a lot of emotions out there,’ Nyquist said. “It’s the playoffs. They like to get involved after the whistles a lot. We’re standing up for ourselves. It’s just how it is in the playoffs. There are a lot of emotions.”

Three of the Bruins’ penalties on Sunday were for roughing.

“I think it’s pretty clear, our team has to be physically engaged, but again, within the rules,” Boston coach Claude Julien said. “When we’re not we’re in the penalty box. We have to find a way to stay out of the box a little bit more. To me, we’re in the box for too many penalties and down the road that can hurt you. So playing within the rules and being physical is part of our strength, so we have to be that team. The after-whistle scrums are certainly not pre-planned, it’s just two teams that are intense and ready to battle for their space and it’s as easy as that.”

Babcock not worried about a suddenly cooled-off Nyquist

DETROIT >> Gustav Nyquist was the hottest goal scorer in the league in the month of March.

Once April hit, he cooled off.

He’s gone eight straight games without a goal.

“I need to try and use my speed a little more, shoot the puck and get on the inside,” Nyquist said Monday at Joe Louis Arena. “I’ve got to spin off those big guys, get in front of the net because that’s where the goals are going to be scored. That’s something I have to improve on for sure.”

Nyquist has one goal in April, which was the game winner against Boston on April 2.

“I need to shoot the puck more,” Nyquist said. “I haven’t shot the puck as much and that’s something I need to change.”
Nyquist has a total of 20 shots over his last eight games, four of which came in Sunday’s 4-1 loss in Boston that evened the best-of-seven first round series.
“It’s a tight game out there,” Nyquist said. “There aren’t many scoring chances.”

Despite playing in just 57 regular season games, Nyquist led the team with 28 goals.

“It’s not even scoring, you’ve got to compete, you’ve got to get playing like you can,” Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “Anytime you’ve been through it, and now suddenly instead of being a guy nobody ever heard of, like last year in the playoffs, you’re a guy they’ve heard of.

“His space is probably a little harder to come by,” Babcock continued. “You’ve just got to find your game.”

Tomas Tatar was second in goals with 19.

“The thing I know about Nyquie is he always seems to find his game,” Babcock said. “I’m not concerned. I had a chat with him (Sunday) night on the plane. I expect him to be very good.”

Analogy of the day … Wings coach Mike Babcock

DETROIT >> Wings coach Mike Babcock came up with a perfect analogy regarding the on-ice incident between Brendan Smith and Zdeno Chara near the end of the first period of Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Bruins.

“I thought he made a good decision,” Babcock said. “I don’t know why he’d go toe to toe with him.

“The way I look at it, if you’re a really good speaker then you should find employment speaking,” Babcock continued. “If you’re a really good fighter you should find employment fighting. So you walk into the bar and there’s this beautiful young gal standing next to this 6-foot-9 monster who you know makes his living fighting for a living and you’re the best pool player in the bar. Are you going to play pool or are you going to fight? Figure it out. It seems simple to me.”

Boston had the second most fighting majors during the regular season with 46. The Wings had a league low seven.

“One guy’s 6-foot-9, one guy’s not,” Babcock said. “What would be the good decision? I guess all I’m saying is I think you should do what you do well … play pool.”

Chara had two fighting majors this season as did Smith.

Smith not backing down from anyone, but does need to keep that between whistles

DETROIT >> Quick update from the Wings’ optional skate at Joe Louis Arena on Monday morning.

Brendan Smith finally addressed the on-ice altercation he has with Zdeno Chara near the end of the first period of Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins.

“I want to stand up for myself and standup for my teammates and I will,” Smith said. “I’m not saying I won’t, but I’ll do it between the whistles. You don’t have to do stuff after the whistles. I’ve learned that in the last little bit.”

Smith and Chara squared off and appeared to be close to dropping the gloves had it not been for a linesman stepping in between.

“A lot of times you try and grab someone before they get into the pile to make sure someone doesn’t get in there and get a cheap shot,” Smith said. “I think he came right over to me and that’s how it started.

“It’s all spur of the moment kind of stuff,” Smith continued. “There was a lot said. I really don’t even think about it. I can’t even remember to be honest with you. Everyone is dwelling on it, but this is what it’s like in the playoffs.

Chara, who’s 6-foot-9, had a grin on his face the whole time during the altercation.

“We’re not saying we’re going to back down, but the best way for us to be victorious in the end is to play between the whistles,” Smith said. “That’s what I’m saying. Guys like (Justin) Abdelkader, myself and (Kyle) Quincey, we’re not going to back down, but we’re not going to hurt our team because there’s no point to it.”

Boston had the second most fighting majors during the regular season with 46. The Wings had a league low seven.

Chara had two fighting majors this season as did Smith.

“You want to play tough and hard between the whistles,” Smith said. “After the whistles we’d like the refs to take a little more control of that. Maybe that was a first test so we’ll see what happens. Where you score is between the whistles and that’s what we need to focus on. All this stuff after the whistles doesn’t mean anything to us.”

Of the seven penalties the Wings drew Sunday, four were for roughing.

“Emotions are running high,” Darren Helm said. “(Milan) Lucic said it pretty well after he got (Danny) DeKeyser, emotions sometimes get the best of you. Last night I thought that’s what happened. Emotions are running high, we got into some scrums that we shouldn’t be getting into. We’re a team that plays between the whistles, not after the whistles.”

“It’s a lot of emotions out there,’ Gustav Nyquist said. “It’s the playoffs. They like to get involved after the whistles a lot. We’re standing up for ourselves. It’s just how it is in the playoffs. There are a lot of emotions.”