DETROIT - The Detroit Red Wings have spent a lot of time looking in the mirror. Many players mentioned it after their winless streak was extended to six games Thursday and again after Friday's optional practice.

Even coach Jeff Blashill acknowledged it.

"My job is to make sure I'm their mirror and I remind them what it takes to win," Blashill said.

It's been two weeks since their last victory - 3-1 over Buffalo on Nov. 17. They've gone 0-3-3 since and Blashill's frustration has been evident in post-game addresses to the media where he's talked about having "too many passengers" and playing "stupid hockey."

That can be a tricky spot for a coach, who risks alienating players to the point where his message may no longer be received. Blashill doesn't believe it has reached that stage.

"Anything I say to (the media) I certainly have said to them or am going to say to them the next day," Blashill said. "I don't think it's ever anything personal, it's about us getting better. I try to be as real as I can. I don't think the public needs to know everything. I know there's a want to having some insight into what we're thinking, so rather than have a vacuum, we try to fill that with as good a message as I can give you that I would give to them."

The Red Wings already have experienced two six-game winless streaks. They'll try to snap the current one Saturday at Montreal (7 p.m., Fox Sports Detroit), two nights after the Canadiens prevailed 6-3 at Little Caesars Arena, in a performance that raised questions about players' commitment.

"I think guys have totally bought in, I think guys understand," Blashill said. "I think guys are 100 percent committed to winning. That doesn't make them perfect every night. I think (NFL coaching legend) Vince Lombardi said you strive for perfection and in the process, you find greatness."

Players say effort isn't the issue. They cite mental mistakes.

"I think everybody is buying in," Niklas Kronwall said. "It's like the first period (Thursday), it's looking pretty good and then we start to get too comfortable and then all the sudden you let the foot off the gas. We can't allow that to happen, we're not that good of a team, with that much talent, to take the foot off the gas and just kind of cruise along."

Said Dylan Larkin: "We got to keep playing no matter what happens in a game. You got to brush it off and get back to the way we have been playing -- as a team that plays fast, doing the right things, managing the puck. We all feel that if we do that we'll be right back on track and playing the right way."

Kronwall said structure isn't the issue.

"On the road for whatever reason we've been able to keep it more simple," Kronwall said.

The situation is desperate, but not hopeless, Blashill said.

"I walk into that room yesterday and I think there's a negative undercurrent and I get it 100 percent," Blashill said. "I look at the standings today, I see we're two points out of a playoff spot on Dec. 1. I'm betting to a person none of you predicted us to be in that spot on Dec. 1. I think we've played beyond external expectations for the majority of this year. We sit today not in a great spot, but it's not an awful spot.

"We'll get back up on Saturday, I guarantee it."

Said Kronwall: "Look yourself in the mirror and say, 'I got to be better,' and that's every guy in here."