With three-day break between games, Red Wings working on being ‘a more physical and harder team to play against’

DETROIT -- Including Monday’s scheduled off-day, the Detroit Red Wings have three consecutive days without a game before their four-game homestand resumes Thursday night against the Anaheim Ducks.

So, the Red Wings are intent on making the most of their practice time this week, as evidenced by the high compete and effort levels that were on display Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center on Tuesday morning.

“We don’t get a lot of time during the season to practice the way we did today,” Detroit head coach Todd McLellan said. “We just can’t, because you have so many games in such a short time frame. They expended a lot of energy today. It was physical and there was a lot of battling.”

From a teaching front, McLellan led his players through several competitive drills, including one that focused on puck protection. By structuring Tuesday's practice in the way that he did, McLellan aimed to challenge the Red Wings to better utilize space on the ice and improve their body positioning.

“We’re not a small team, but sometimes we don’t play big,” McLellan said. “We have some length, some guys who are long and tall. We have some girth. Those players have to give us more of that. The smaller players can also do that too. They can roll around. Sometimes, they’re the toughest to handle in and around the blue paint because they have a low center of gravity, are quick and have to dart in and out. We’re just not seeing enough of it right now.”

Alex DeBrincat said Detroit is determined to bring a more physical edge to its all-around game.

“We need to be a more physical and harder team to play against,” DeBrincat said. “We’re giving up too much too easily, so we got to win our 50-50s in the O-zone and D-zone. Really, all over the ice. Just getting back to that work ethic and playing simple is going to be what’s best for us.”

In addition to returning to the win column, having dropped their third straight contest on Sunday afternoon, the Red Wings want to snap out of a 1-for-20 power-play slump over their last five games. Entering Tuesday’s NHL slate, Detroit and the San Jose Sharks were tied for 16th in the NHL on the man advantage (18.9 percent).

“Could [the power play] be better? Yeah, for sure,” Patrick Kane said. “I also could say, if you look at the last couple games, that we could’ve had a couple goals here or there. There were some chances… As a group, we still feel very confident in what we can do. We’re going to try to not lose confidence in the power play because it is such a crucial part of the game.”