Red Wings' Anthony Mantha, on Blashill call out: I have to get better

As the Detroit Red Wings gathered for a Thanksgiving practice, Jeff Blashill pulled aside Anthony Mantha.

Blashill asked if Mantha wants the responsibility of being counted on as an impact player. The answer encouraged.

“His answer to me was yes,” Blashill said. “And so I assume he will learn to take a step forward and make sure he is great the next night.”

Mantha will get a chance to demonstrate his recommitment Friday when the Wings play at the New York Rangers. Blashill called out Mantha after Wednesday’s 6-2 loss to the Oilers, saying Mantha “has to be way better,” doing so because “sometimes as a person you have to be slapped in the face a little bit.”

Mantha and fellow young stars Dylan Larkin and Andreas Athanasiou all have had a couple of subpar performances, but one of the reasons Blashill singled out Mantha is that he’s shown he can handle public criticism – even as he doesn’t like it.

“I mean obviously it’s not fun hearing,” Mantha said Thursday. “But I know that my game is not really where I want it to be the last three games. I think my last good game was against Calgary and after that I am just floating around a little bit too much.

“He talked to me this morning and he did tell me I was an OK player the last two games and that’s exactly why we didn’t come out with a win. Through his eyes, I think if I show up every night we are going to be a winning team and it is the same for other guys like Larkin and AA – if we come out every game, our team gets so much better. Like he told me again this morning, he is giving me a chance and I need to step in and take that chance and be the best player I can be.”

The Wings push Mantha, 23, because he’s a highly skilled, 6-foot-5, 225-pound forward. He has four three-point games in just 19 games this season. It’s because he stands out so much when he plays to his talent that it’s so noticeable when he coasts.

“I just wanted to be a little bit specific,” Blashill said. “Last night there were certainly too many passengers, but the one thing with Anthony is, and I’ve told him this – for us to be great, he’s got to be great. And that comes with lots of responsibility. If I didn’t think he was good enough to be a great player I wouldn’t do it, if I didn’t think he’s good enough to be a big impact on our team I wouldn’t do it. But I think he is all those things.

“Sometimes as a young player, you have to be reminded how hard you have to play in order to be great, and the impact that you have when you don’t. He played almost 19 minutes last night in a lot of roles, and his impact is going to have a huge impact on our success."

Mantha sounded mature about the criticism.

“You can take it two ways,” he said. “You can take it the way, oh, he’s always on my back, or you can tell yourself, he cares about me and he wants me to be a better player. It’s for me to take the decision to get better and that’s what I’ll do.”

In net

Jimmy Howard was in the practice net that usually designates who will start. Blashill keeps that choice close to his chest, but smiled when asked if it’s undeniable Howard thrives at Madison Square Garden (Howard stole the Wings a 2-1 victory there last season, stopping 32 of 33 shots; in 2015-16 he played there twice, going 0-1-1 with a .939 save percentage and 1.51 GAA). “I won’t deny that Jimmy has had a great run at Madison Square Garden and if he starts, I hope he has another good one.”

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'It’s not one guy'

“We’ve got to get back to playing the right way,” Justin Abdelkader said. “We can’t let these bad habits creep in and continue because we’ve got to right this ship and turn this around right away. This isn’t winning hockey that we are playing. We can’t let frustration boil over, either. ... It is frustrating - we all see it. We see it on the bench, we see it on the ice. It’s not one guy, it’s not two guys, it’s everyone. We’ve got to play together as a five-man unit on the ice and make sure that I know what my line mates are doing or defensemen are doing.”

Tomas Tatar said: “It’s not OK to play just OK.”

Frk sighting

Martin Frk (groin) partook partially in practice and said the next big test will be joining full practice Monday. He estimated he’d need two or three full practices before he can play.

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Check out our Red Wings Xtra app on Apple and Android!