Helene St. James

Detroit Free Press

Pavel Datsyuk referred to his reunion with Henrik Zetterberg as "like a wish at Christmas," with Justin Abdelkader completing the trinity.

The trio practiced together today, in response to a five-game winless streak that has seen the Detroit Red Wings score just five times.

"We need more shoot and more score," Datsyuk said. "Last few games, we not score much. It's hard to win when we score one. It's a little bit tough time, frustrating, but we stick together when playing."

Tatar was of similar mindset after being back with Riley Sheahan and Tomas Jurco, saying, "it's nice to be reunited this way."

Coach Mike Babcock said he switched lines around because, "we're not winning. Whatever can help us win, it doesn't matter to me."

The 0-2-3 streak comes after the Wings had won seven of their previous eight games, prompting Babcock to speculate, "I don't know if it's part of the success disease, if it's a little complacency. You get feeling good about yourself and you come off it a little bit. We've got to find a way to come out on the high side of things."

The Wings have two games remaining to get feeling good about themselves going into the Christmas break. Stephen Weiss (shoulder) won't be back for Sunday's hosting of Colorado, and sounded like an outside shot at being ready for Tuesday's game against Buffalo.

Jimmy Howard is also out Sunday with a lower-body injury, which prompted Tom McCollum to be called up to back up Petr Mrazek, which necessitated Xavier Ouellet being shipped to Grand Rapids for the roster spot. General manager Ken Holland told the Free Press that Howard may be ready for Tuesday.

The Wings don't lack for healthy bodies, especially among the skaters, and much as a five games without a win looks meager, the Wings have played well in all but the excursion at Toronto. A little more crashing, a lucky-break type of goal, and the Wings should be fine.

"We've got to get back to just shooting the puck, just throwing it in there, and try to create second opportunities," Johan Franzen said. "That's usually what's needed when guys are not scoring. You need an empty-netter on the side on a rebound or something. Just get people in front of the net and shoot the puck in there."

The Wings catch a Colorado tasked with spending its Saturday night playing at Buffalo, a scenario that should benefit the team with the fresher legs.

Then again, there's that Datsyuk-Zetterberg factor. The two have created magic for a decade and, as Tatar put it, "it's a stacked line, for sure. I would, like, not like to play against them."

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.