DETROIT – Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith believes the Chicago Blackhawks' agitators are taking too many liberties between whistles and getting away with it.

He is hoping officials will take notice tonight in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals at Joe Louis Arena (8 p.m., NBC Sports Network, CBC).

“They are getting away with a lot of those after-the-whistle cheap shots or whatever; maybe (referees) don't see it,'' Smith said. “I don't think it frustrates anybody in here. We want to hold our ground.

“They're trying to be pesty and whatnot. If you let them get under your skin then they've won. You see them hacking and slashing after the whistle. … You see guys like (Henrik) Zetterberg getting slashed after the whistle by (Jonathan) Toews. It doesn't affect him. He comes out even better. These guys have been around the league so long, we feed off that for sure.''

Detroit's Justin Abdelkader took a retaliatory penalty against Dave Bolland in Game 5, costing his club a power play.

“You’ve got to be careful; (referees) are looking to even things up,'' Abdelkader said. “They have guys on their team who try to bait you on penalties and you’ve got to be smart about it. Play on the edge, but don’t go over.

“We just got to play between the whistles and not worry about any extracurricular stuff and stay away from the scrums. They'll try to get under your skin. Just got to be smart, can't get baited into penalties. It can be tough at times. Sometimes you just got to bite your lip.''

Bryan Bickell takes pride in being one of the Blackhawks' biggest agitators.

“That’s part of my game, to make them sick of it,'' Bickell said. “If they know I’m going to finish my check, hopefully I can get them a little nervous with the puck, make them second guess, maybe get some turnovers. Just to wear them down.''

Bickell delivered a huge check on Niklas Kronwall midway through the third period of Game 5.

“It’s still a long series, and if you get a hit on any of their players to give them an extra bump or bruise coming into the next game, it’s important,'' Bickell said.

Kronwall is fine, apparently, after having his right shoulder and wrist slammed into the boards. He skated this morning and didn't appear to have any problems passing or shooting.

The Red Wings are expected to use the same lines and defense pairings they have for most of the series:

Johan Franzen-Pavel Datsyuk-Justin Abdelkader

Valtteri Filppula-Henrik Zetterberg-Daniel Cleary

Gustav Nyquist-Joakim Andersson-Damien Brunner

Drew Miller--Cory Emmerton-Patrick Eaves

Jordin Tootoo, Todd Bertuzzi, Mikael Samuelsson (scratched).

On defense:

Niklas Kronwall-Jonathan Ericsson

Kyle Quincey-Brendan Smith

Carlo Colaiacovo-Jakub Kindl

Ian White (scratched)

Jimmy Howard (starting)

Jonas Gustavsson

Jordan Pearce (third goalie)

Here are the Blackhawks' anticipated lines and defense pairings:

Patrick Sharp-Jonathan Toews-Patrick Kane

Bryan Bickell-Michal Handus-Marian Hossa

Brandon Saad--Andrew Shaw-Viktor Stalberg

Marcus Kruger-Dave Bolland-Michael Frolik

On defense:

Duncan Keith-Brent Seabrook

Nick Leddy-Niklas Hjalmarsson

Johnny Oduya-Michal Rozsival

Corey Crawford (starting)

Ray Emery