Generally playoff hockey is physical but without a lot of fighting because a 5 minute major is just too big a risk to take. But with the Wings you get a little something extra: more road fans in the stands, more sense of something to prove for the opponent. The Avalanche-Red Wings rivalry was huge for a few years and came out of nowhere since it's not like the Wings and Quebec had bad blood. I'm no WIngs hater, but it adds something extra.
Funny, though, I just read Dryden's The Game recently, and it was really interesting to read his thoughts on the Wings (at the time) as just a dreadful organization that had lost any vestige of their pride from the 50s. The team that Dryden felt was their only real competition? The Islanders. How times have changed.