Their 20 goals over their past four games have propelled them to a 3.26 goals-for average, fourth in the NHL. They accomplished that despite losing a combined 82 goals when Marian Hossa, Mikael Samuelsson and Jiri Hudler left for other teams. They since have lost forwards Johan Franzen, Valtteri Filppula and Jason Williams to injuries.

"I think we were always confident in here we were going to score one way or another," defenseman Niklas Kronwall says. "We lost a lot of big-name players and a lot of goals, but other players have stepped up and been able to contribute and come up with goals for us."

Center Henrik Zetterberg has five goals and five assists in the past week, but the Red Wings also have received goals recently from role players such as Kris Draper, Darren Helm and Justin Abdelkader. Dan Cleary has three goals in five games.

The points haven't just been coming from the forwards, though. Kronwall has led the defensemen with three goals and four assists the past four games.

"He's got that golden touch right now," defenseman Brad Stuart says. "He's getting pucks through, and anytime you can do that you're going to create opportunities for yourself. I think that's the good thing about this team; guys manage to find a way to fill those roles that are left vacant by people leaving. It took a couple of weeks for that to happen, but I think you're starting to see we have enough guys who can put the puck in the net."

The Red Wings are doing well offensively even though captain Nicklas Lidstrom has one goal and seven points.

Coach Mike Babcock says Lidstrom and fellow defenseman Brian Rafalski need to be more dominant with the puck.

"We need Nick to shoot the puck way more than he has, because we need offense out of Nick and obviously Rafalski the same way," Babcock says. "Those guys should be shooting the puck every time they get it."

Enlarge By Bob Strong, Reuters Niklas Kronwall, left, has stepped up amid injuries to several Red Wings teammates, including Jason Williams, right.