Niklas Kronwall OK after big hit

DETROIT -- The Red Wings got some much-needed good news Wednesday -- defenseman Niklas Kronwall is fine. Kronwall appeared a little dazed after taking a hit from Minnesota's Mikko Koivu at the end of Tuesday night's game. Kronwall fell to the ice and Koivu was able to pass to Devin Setoguchi for the overtime game-winning goal. But Wednesday, Kronwall participated in full practice and appeared no worse for wear. "I just got a little ding right off the hit for the first five-seven seconds or so," Kronwall said. "Felt fine after. As soon as I got off the ice, everything felt great." Kronwall was tested after the game and then again before Wednesday afternoon's practice. His teammates were relieved to see him. "He had a good skate today, he worked out before practice so he looked to be in good shape and good spirits, too," captain Nick Lidstrom said. Although Lidstrom initially thought the play warranted a penalty, Kronwall didn't think so. "I think it was a good play on his part," Kronwall said. "He caught me off guard, ended up costing us the game. Obviously I have to be a little bit more aware out there." Where's the offense? The Wings have managed a paltry five goals overall in their five straight losses, a ridiculous amount considering the level of talent on the team. "We should definitely score more goals than we're doing," Henrik Zetterberg said. "It's not that we don't have the chances. Somehow we can't get the puck behind the goalie and it is frustrating. But you've just got to keep going, keep doing the right things and work hard. It will turn around. you've just got to believe." Lidstrom, who got the Wings' lone goal on a deflection as he drove to the net, said the Wings have to get some more traffic near the goaltender. "We have been taking a lot of shots but we haven't been there for rebounds," Lidstrom said. "I think getting the ugly goals you get when you're on a roll and playing well, the puck's going in for you. When it's not, we've been squeezing our sticks and pressing a little too much. I think that's been showing here as of late." Coach Mike Babcock said the Wings also have to take advantage of their good scoring chances. "Pav (Datsyuk) had two clear-cut chances last night, one he fanned on, one he shot wide," Babcock said. "Z was home-free in the slot wide open. Nick right there, Abby (Justin Abdelkader) home-free. Those are Grade-A, quality chances where if we give them up, they say, 'Oh, you gave up a 3-on-2.' Those were unbelievable chances. So you've got to bury some of them." It would certainly help the offense if the Wings weren't so busy killing penalties, as they had to contend with eight Minnesota power plays Tuesday. "We were down 1-0 in Minny, and we took three penalties in the third period," Babcock said. "So right away, you make the period 14 minutes long instead of 20 minutes long. "Last night was no different. We had everything going. We survived the 5-on-3, we did a good job, we got some saves, we had great penalty killing all night and then to give up that goal at the end when you tempt fate one more time. And we took a lot of bad penalties. We're responsible. You don't blame referees, you take responsibility yourself. It's us." Babcock said goaltender Jimmy Howard has done his job. "I think Howie's been unbelievable," Babcock said. "We've wasted, in my opinion, a couple real good efforts out of him. So we gotta do a better job for him." Separating the Euro Twins At practice Wednesday, Datsyuk and Zetterberg were not playing on the same line and won't be Thursday night against Calgary. "The bottom line is I just played Pav and Z together nine straight games," Babcock said. "And through that time, we haven't done enough so I'm not playing them together. We need more people going and maybe they can help them get going. "They have to help themselves as well. So that's what we're doing. You know the definition of insanity so we've got to change some things up and see if we can't do a better job." Datsyuk was centering Jiri Hudler and Danny Cleary and Zetterberg was with Johan Franzen and Todd Bertuzzi. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean those lines will be the ones going Thursday. Nyquist back to Grand Rapids Rookie Gustav Nyquist is headed back to Grand Rapids and will play for the Griffins Wednesday night. Babcock said it wasn't that Nyquist played poorly. "We took so many penalties anyway that everybody's ice time was fairly limited," Babcock said. "Anytime you cut the game down to 42 minutes, you don't get quite the amount of ice time. With him, we just thought in the situation we're going through right now, we'd rather bring him up when things are rolling." Eaves missing Patrick Eaves, who played Tuesday, did not practice Wednesday. Babcock called it a maintenance day for Eaves, but also added that he did not know if Eaves would be available to play Thursday.