"Red Wings general manager Ken Holland watched his team practice Friday. He wasn't planning a makeover.

The Wings have struggled this season, to be sure; they have lost two in a row entering today's game at Los Angeles, but before that, they had won four straight, and they started 5-0 before losing six in a row.

After a 5-2 loss Thursday at San Jose, coach Mike Babcock had strong words for his team: "We've got to have a discussion as a group. Do we want to be a good team or not?"

While the offense has come in spurts -- seemingly it's either five goals or one -- Holland isn't talking trades.

"First of all, that's not my M.O.," Holland said. "And we're not the only team where we are in the standings. It's a marathon.

"We're 9-7-1. It's not like we're way out of it. We're in the thick of the pack."

Few teams considered contenders haven't had ups and downs: Stanley Cup champion Boston won three times in October. San Jose started slow. So did Vancouver. Washington has swooned since a 7-0 start.

The consensus within the Wings is they will be fine as soon as Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg get going."