NHL: Red Wings at Canadiens - March 29, 2016

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Mike Condon makes a save against the Red Wings' Brad Richards on Tuesday.

(The Associated Press)

DETROIT - Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill might have rookie Anthony Mantha and veteran Brad Richards switch lines for Friday's game against the Minnesota Wild at Joe Louis Arena (7:30, Fox Sports Detroit).

Mantha skated with Luke Glendening and Andreas Athanasiou in practice Thursday while Richards was bumped up to the line with Pavel Datsyuk and Darren Helm.

"Just looking at different line combinations," Blashill said. "The one thing that Richie has done, he's been through lots in his career, including as recently as last year (won Stanley Cup with Chicago), when the game's in the third period, he certainly knows how to chip pucks out, chip pucks in and still make plays when the plays are there to be made."

But Blashill said it's not just Richards' defensive awareness that would prompt the switch.

"First of all, he's got lots of points in this league, he's been a good offensive player for a long time," Blashill said. "If anybody watched the (Cup) finals last year, I don't know if you remember that slap pass he made that kind of guaranteed a win for Chicago, so he's got lots of offense in him.

"I think, (he) has been through lots of experiences when the pressure's on. ... Just like in the playoffs there's lots of pressure, he keeps a cool head and makes, I think, good decisions. We'll see."

Blashill said he'll make all lineup decisions - or at least reveal them - on Friday.

Decision on defense

On defense, Brendan Smith has been a healthy scratch the past two games. Prior to that, Alexey Marchenko was scratched in seven of 11 games. Jonathan Ericsson has struggled, especially of late, with a minus-10 rating in his past nine games, but Blashill has opted to scratch one of the younger defensemen instead.

"There's lots that go into those decisions, a lot of which I won't talk about," Blashill said. "But I think there's tons in terms of resume, history, execution on a game-to-game basis.

"Everybody's got their opinions on who should play and who shouldn't. What I know is we've got seven NHL-caliber defensemen. I also know that the six that play have to play at a high level ... whichever six we choose."

Petr's problems

Blashill declined to reveal his starting goaltender for Friday, but it's expected to be Jimmy Howard.

Petr Mrazek has been pulled in his past two starts and in three of his past four. Mrazek, since Feb. 12, is 6-6-2, with a 3.40 goals-against average and .885 save percentage.

"I think when Petr's playing his best, his feet are set, he's right on top of the crease, he's not too far out, he's not too far back, and I think when he's not, he's probably charging the puck too much," Blashill said. "I think when he's really on his game, he's letting the puck come to him and his feet are set and he's right on top of the crease."

Here are the lines they skated with today:

Justin Abdelkader-Henrik Zetterberg-Dylan Larkin

Darren Helm-Pavel Datsyuk-Brad Richards (Teemu Pulkkinen working in)

Gustav Nyquist-Riley Sheahan-Tomas Tatar

Andreas Athanasiou-Luke Glendening-Anthony Mantha (Tomas Jurco working in)

On defense:

Danny DeKeyser-Kyle Quincey

Niklas Kronwall-Alexey Marchenko (Brendan Smith working in)

Jonathan Ericsson-Mike Green

In goal:

Jimmy Howard

Petr Mrazek

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