Helene St. James

Detroit Free Press

After seeing his minutes dwindle, it appears Anthony Mantha will be spending at least a game with none at all.

Based on today's morning skate, Mantha will be a healthy scratch when the Detroit Red Wings host the Philadelphia Flyers (8 p.m., NBCSN) at Joe Louis Arena.

Coach Jeff Blashill declined to reveal his lineup decisions, but Mantha was the last forward off the ice. Though he may be out of the lineup, he will stay with the Wings through the end of the regular season, at least, and not be sent back to the minors, general manager Ken Holland told the Free Press.

Blashill played Mantha, 21, nearly 15 minutes in each of the first two games after the rookie was called up mid-March. After that, Mantha hovered around 12 minutes until this past weekend, when he played less than seven minutes each against Minnesota and at Toronto. That reflects the decision to replace Mantha with veteran Brad Richards next to Pavel Datsyuk, and dropping Mantha to the fourth line.

Asked about Mantha's minutes, Blashill said, "I think it's just a matter of putting other guys in those spots. Obviously Brad Richards brings a wealth of experience. He has played in big games throughout his career, including as recently last year and making a play in winning the Stanley Cup Final.

"So I don't think it's anything about necessarily Anthony. I think it's more about Brad Richards being in that spot, and there are only so many spots in the lineup."

Part of the deal in bringing Mantha up was that he'd get a role suited to him, as he's a big, skilled forward. He has two goals and one assist in 10 games, along with a minus-6 defensive rating.

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

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