Red Wings’ Gustav Nyquist: I need goals, not luck

Winnipeg, Manitoba – New stick? New gloves? How about a different pregame routine?

Anything to change your luck, Gustav Nyquist?

The Detroit Red Wings forward isn’t superstitious and doesn’t thinking changing something will help him put the puck in the net.

“Not at all,” said Nyquist, when asked if he’s the superstitious kind. “It would just would make me think more about it. I’m not superstitious at all.”

Nyquist hasn’t scored a goal in his last six games and has just one in his last 20 games heading into Tuesday’s night matchup with the Winnipeg Jets.

Nyquist started the season strong with eight points (three goals) in the first seven games, and appeared to form good chemistry with linemates Thomas Vanek and Darren Helm.

Then Vanek and Helm got hurt, and Nyquist has been working on other lines, and the hot streak of early on disappeared.

“You go through some times (like this),” Nyquist said. “I haven’t been scoring. Hopefully I can get back on track.”

When talking about Nyquist, coach Jeff Blashill often mentions Nyquist’s competitiveness in the offensive zone. When Nyquist plays with that zeal, it usually results in offensive chances.

 “The biggest thing with Gus is, he does a real good job of being tenacious,” said Blashill, who has had Nyquist with Vanek and Dylan Larkin in recent games. “When he’s ultra-competitive and tenacious around the net, offense follows that.

“When he’s not quite ultra-competitive, then the offense doesn’t follow.

“He’s got to be somebody who can’t just be as competitive as the next guy. He has to be more competitive (than the next guy), and when he does that, he’s a real good player.”

Larkin suffers growing pains during second Wings season

The Red Wings rank 23rd in goals, averaging 2.38 per game, and 29th (next to last) with 27.8 shots per game. (Winnipeg is last with 27.5 shots.)

“We’re not happy about it; obviously we’d like to score more goals,” Nyquist said. “A lot of guys in this room would have liked to score more goals. It’s just something we have to keep working on, putting pucks on net.

“We’re making it too easy for teams to box us out. We have to battle for net-front better, and spending more time in the offensive zone, that will help automatically get more shots.”

ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com

Twitter @tkulfan