DETROIT -- Perhaps they were a little on the sleepy side. Perhaps they just wanted to get away from the rink for a few hours. Or perhaps they are nursing some irritating bumps and bruises.

	“	It isn't a must, but we'd really, really like a win.”
		— Detroit winger Kirk Maltby

Whatever the case, a handful of notable Red Wings were absent from Thursday morning's skate, including Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, Brendan Shanahan, Chris Chelios, Igor Larionov, Nicklas Lidstrom and Sergei Fedorov.

The move wasn't entirely a shock, as head coach Scotty Bowman's morning skates are optional. But still, considering how sloppy the Red Wings played in Game 1, when they squandered numerous scoring opportunities and failed to pass the puck cleanly in the neutral zone, one might think the extra work would have done some good.

Even so, nearly all of Detroit's stars were absent.

"We've been doing this since the beginning of the playoffs," Bowman said. "There's certain instances where they might want to -- if they didn't skate the day before, they may want to go on. Some guys may want to change up their routine. But it's mainly (a) personal thing and we don't put a lot of onus on the morning skate."

Neither do the Carolina Hurricanes. Though most of Carolina's players show up for the routine, it's not mandatory. Like Bowman, head coach Paul Maurice just doesn't think it's important.

"I hate them, always have," Maurice said. "Just so happens that the majority of our team comes out. I have had two or three players over the last couple of years say, 'When you're not out there, it's a little different, so just come and stand and blow the whistle.

"But I can clearly remember going into Pittsburgh watching the morning skate thinking, 'Man, these guys aren't ready to play us.' And we lost 9-2. I'm not a big fan."

The lack of any marquee Red Wings at practice on Thursday again left Kirk Maltby and rookie Boyd Devereaux as the lone voices coming out of the Detroit locker room. The Red Wings have been widely criticized in the media for not making their top players more available. Wednesday, the NHL find the team $50,000 for failing to follow proper interview procedures after Game 1.

Thursday morning, about 50 media members stood in the Detroit locker room watching the French Open until Devereaux, and then Maltby, were available. Neither player saw a problem with the team's stars skipping practice.

"The whole playoffs, the morning skate has been an optional thing," Maltby said. "I think some of these guys felt they could use the rest and take the day to mentally prepare for tonight."

The Red Wings aren't calling tonight's Game 2 a must-win, instead choosing to label the contest one notch lower -- very critical. In the opening round of the playoffs, Detroit came back from a 2-0 deficit against Vancouver, so they know they can dig themselves out of such a hole. Life would just be much, much easier if they didn't have to do so.

"Nobody wants to be down 2-0, so there is probably a little bit more anxiety in this locker room than normal," Maltby said. "It isn't a must, but we'd really, really like a win."

Bowman agrees. He, too, understands that Game 2 won't make or break the series, but that it is certainly more important given the outcome in Game 1.

"There's always critical games," Bowman said. "I think they get stronger as the series goes on. Because, you know, there is a time when you run out of games. But if you worry about the series and everything else, it takes away from how you're going to play."

Bowman said there won't be any lineup changes for tonight's game, nor would there be any drastic changes to his team's philosophy. Despite the fact that the Red Wings were 1-for-7 on the power play, Bowman believes that if his team improves its passing and plays sharper hockey, it'll be OK.

"I don't think we have to change a lot," Bowman said. "Yeah, we would like to do some things differently, but you know, if you do that with the power play, people start pressing. It's got to come."

Wayne Drehs is a staff writer at ESPN.com.