Red Wings' Jeff Blashill unhappy with Anthony Mantha's recent play

Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill acknowledged he didn’t like Anthony Mantha’s play in Tuesday’s 4-3 overtime loss at Boston. But when asked what he didn’t like, Blashill declined to offer an explanation, saying instead: “I’ll keep that between me and him.”

Mantha was on the ice for 9:51, the fewest minutes he has played in a game this season. Mantha’s ice time has declined over four straight games, from 18:05 against the Boston Bruins on Jan. 18 to 16:25 at Buffalo on Jan. 20 to 13:35 against the New York Rangers on Sunday to under 10 minutes for the first time this season.

Mantha hasn’t scored a point in his past five games and is minus-3 in that stretch. He has 11 goals and 11 assists in 33 games, and his 22 points is seventh on the team in scoring.

“I wasn’t as happy with his game last night a little bit,” Blashill said before Wednesday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Joe Louis Arena. “Sometimes, you know, it’s a learning process. That said, I got tons of confidence in him. I think you’ll see he’ll play lots tonight.

Blashill went on to explain that for young players, there’s a fine line between wanting to win each game and making sure players continue to develop throughout the season.

Riley Sheahan has seen an increase in ice time in recent games, although he hasn’t been an offensive contributor this season. Sheahan had been averaging around 15 minutes a game earlier this month, but played 17:20, 18:05 and 17:25 over the past three games. Sheahan has no goals and seven assists and a minus-15 rating in 46 games this season.

Blashill said there aren't going to be any easy stretches the rest of the season. "The reason this organization has been able to compete for the Stanley Cup every spring is because of the fact that we've got a group that knows how to grind," he said. "We know how to keep charging along, we know how to work through frustration ... even when others might not believe in us. We gotta make sure that we keep grinding."

Notebook: Thomas Vanek returned to the lineup on Wednesday after missing one game with a lower body injury.

Related:

Contact George Sipple: gsipple@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @georgesipple.

Download our Red Wings Xtra app on Apple and Android!