Red Wings' Jeff Blashill explains benching of Andreas Athanasiou

Andreas Athanasiou’s benching came with a message.

Athanasiou played one shift during the third period of Tuesday’s game at Little Caesars Arena, as the Detroit Red Wings protected a two-goal lead that would result in a 2-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks.

“I was playing the guys that I thought were going,” coach Jeff Blashill said. ‘Some nights, (Athanasiou) is really going and tonight I obviously through my ice time said he wasn’t going quite as good in my mind.

“It got to be a three-line game. They were playing three lines. I liked the match that I was seeing so I stayed with the match. I was going with the guys I thought were going.”

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Athanasiou is an incredibly dynamic player, able to create a scoring chance out of nowhere thanks to his speed and hockey sense. But he is inconsistent — at times putting together stretches where he plays like the game-changer he can be, and at other times, lulling through games.

“There’s nights he’s going for sure and everybody can see it,” Blashill said. “When him and I talked as he was coming back we talked about making sure when he’s going, we’ll make sure he gets the ice time. Tonight just wasn’t his night. He’ll get another chance against Tampa (on Thursday) to have a big impact.”

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.

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