George Sipple

Detroit Free Press

Gustav Nyquist said he knows he has to be better.

He knows the Detroit Red Wings are paying him to score goals, something he didn’t do enough this past season.

After scoring 28 goals and 48 points in 57 games in 2013-2014 and 27 goals and 54 points in 2014-15, Nyquist signed a four-year, $19-million contract last July.

He and Tomas Tatar were supposed to take pressure off Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk this season. Instead, Nyquist and Tatar both underachieved.

Nyquist scored 17 goals and 26 assists for 43 points in 82 games. He added one goal and no assists in five playoff games in a first-round elimination by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“I want to score goals, obviously,” Nyquist said last month. “That’s what I’m supposed to do out there, along with other things. But goal scoring is a big thing, for sure.

“Wasn’t able to do that enough this year. That’s disappointing. Disappointed that I haven’t been able to do that this year. I’m just going to have to have a real good summer and work hard, get stronger, as always. I think there’s always room for improvement on that side in the summers. Come back real motivated to have a good season.”

Nyquist, 26, was at a loss to explain why he didn’t score more this season.

“The whole team would have changed some of the things that we needed to work on if you could pinpoint it,” Nyquist said. “It’s a lot of different factors and just gotta be better.”

Nyquist said it was definitely frustrating.

“Sometimes you hit the right combinations, but maybe we didn’t find the perfect ones this year,” Nyquist said of the line shuffling.

Asked about the first season under coach Jeff Blashill, Nyquist said: “Real happy with Blash here. He’s a good coach. I like him. Nothing but good things to say.”

Nyquist said everyone has some share of the blame in why the team didn’t go deeper into the playoffs.

“I think that’s on everyone’s shoulders,” Nyquist said. “For myself and for the players, we need to be better. Ultimately, it’s us that go out and play the game. We need to be better on the ice.”

Nyquist said his confidence hasn’t been shaken by the numbers he put up this season.

“I know I can score in this league,” he said. “I think I showed that before over a few years.”

Contact George Sipple: gsipple@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @georgesipple. Check out our Red Wings Xtra app on Apple and Android!