St. Paul, Minnesota – Looking for poise and simplicity on the power play, Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill turned to a stable veteran.
On Friday against Winnipeg, forward Frans Nielsen joined one of the power-play units – and the Wings got a power-play goal.
Nielsen, with his ability to slow things down and make the good, smart play, was someone who was needed on that unit.
“It’s basically trying to eliminate unforced errors,” said Blashill of Nielsen’s presence on the power play. “It’s not a dynamic shot or anything like that. He’s got a good downhill mentality, so he’s going to keep it simple.