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Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith and Boston's Zdeno Chara mix it up at the end of the first period.

(The Associated Press)

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings’ Brendan Smith makes bad decisions with the puck from time to time, like all young defensemen.

He made a good decision without the puck Sunday in Game 2 against the Boston Bruins, opting not to drop his gloves and tangle with Zdeno Chara, one of the best fighters in the NHL, after roughing it up with the 6-foot-9, 255-pound giant.

“I don’t t know why he’d go toe-to-toe with him,” Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “The way I look at it, if you’re a really good speaker then you should find employment speaking. If you’re a really good fighter you should find employment fighting.”

Smith, who is 6-2, 198, said he was standing up for himself and his teammates, responding to roughhouse tactics from the Bruins and trying to spark his team, which was trailing 2-0.

But the Red Wings, who already have a thin blue line, don’t need one of their top-four defensemen risking injury.

The Red Wings also don't need to be something they are not. For years they have ranked at or near the bottom of the NHL in fighting majors – they were last this season with seven, while the Bruins were second with 46, according to hockeyfights.com.



“I want to stand up for myself and stand up for my teammates and I will,” Smith said. “But I’ll do it between the whistles.

“I think I’m a bigger asset to the team moving the puck and getting the puck out and controlling the play. Our team needs me playing lots of minutes.”

The first-round Eastern Conference playoff series is tied 1-1 with Games 3 and 4 at Joe Louis Arena Tuesday and Thursday.

The Smith-Chara confrontation started following a scrum in the corner at the end of the first period.

“A lot of times you try to grab someone before they get into the pile to make sure someone doesn’t get in there and get a cheap shot,” Smith said. “I think he came right over to me and that’s how it started.”

Smith can’t remember what was said as they grabbed each other. Chara used his long reach to keep him at a distance, stared him down and laughed, goading him to drop his gloves. Nothing came of it and each received minor roughing penalties.

“Looking back at it right now that’s a good thing because I wouldn’t want to take another three minutes on top of that with a fighting major,” Smith said. “They’re trying to agitate us and get under our skin. It kind of worked for a lot of that game and we got to be better.

“We want to play between the whistles and be disciplined. We’ll protect ourselves, but once it gets to be too long and punches are thrown we got to get out of there because we don’t need that. We’re looking to win the series, winning a fight means nothing in the series.”

Babcock told him during the intermission that there was no point in getting involved.

“If it puts us on the power play because they’re being over aggressive and cheap-shotting it’ll be our advantage,” Smith said.

Only if they capitalize. They went 0-for-4 in Game 2 and are 0-for-6 in the series, managing only two shots.

Teammates appreciated Smith’s moxie.

“Smitty stood up for himself; I think it’s a brave thing to do,” Tomas Tatar said. “We want to be physical in the game but after the whistle we want to be smart and save our energy and don’t get discouraged.”

Someone asked the 5-foot-10, 186-pound Tatar if he would have challenged Chara, his friend and fellow Slovak, in the same situation (it had to be a joke).

“It probably would have looked really funny if I would go against him,” Tatar said.

Babcock summed it up this way:

“So you walk into the bar and there’s this beautiful, young gal standing next to this 6-foot-5 monster who you know fights for a living and you’re the best pool player in the bar. Are you going to play pool or are you going to fight? It seems simple to me.

“One guy’s 6-foot-9, one guy’s not. What would be the good decision? I guess all I’m saying is I think you should do what you do well … play pool.”