If there was a place for Anthony Mantha to break out of his slump and get back on track, there would be none better than this locale - the Bell Centre, his hometown rink.

And so, when it came to pass that Mantha would net the overtime winner in the Detroit Red Wings’ 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, well you couldn’t have wiped the smile off his face with a jackhammer.

“It feels good, obviously,” Mantha said. “Lots of people here in the stands for me.
“It wasn’t going necessarily my way the last few games. Having a good game tonight just feels great.”

Struggling with his consistency and his work ethic, Mantha was given a two-game sitdown as a healthy scratch earlier this month by Wings coach Jeff Blashill, who sensed Mantha was breaking out of his slump during Monday’s 2-1 loss to Buffalo.

“I can tell you I thought the last two periods last night were the best he had played up to that point and I thought he built on that tonight and played really well,” Blashill said. “I thought he was excellent tonight. He moved his feet, made a really nice pass in the third period to (Riley) Sheahan, obviously had the goal. But I just thought he moved his feet, competed hard and when he does that he’s a real good player.”

As much as Blashill was happy to see Mantha score the winner, he was much happier to see Mantha score the winner after turning in the type of performance that will make him a consistent winner as an NHLer.

“I think the biggest thing is to get rewarded for playing the right way,” Blashill said. “When you play the right way you want to get rewarded and he got rewarded for that. I thought throughout the game he competed hard. Any kind of offensive player wants to score. It gives you confidence for sure.”

Blashill’s only objective in sitting out Mantha was to emphasize to him not to be satisfied and to continue to drive toward becoming the outstanding, difference-making player the Wings believe that he can be for them.

“To be honest with you he’s gone through lots of a stretches where he’s been a hecukva player for us,” Blashill said. “He came up and was scoring at about a point a game for a large stretch. Like any player, they go through ups and downs and certainly the young players go through ups and downs.

“Part of our job is to make sure it’s not a long-term thing and when he makes mistakes he hears about it. And that can wear on your confidence at times but I think he came out of getting sad and he worked his way back into a spot where he’s playing real good now.”

While Wings fans were outraged by Mantha’s coach-imposed exile, Mantha got it and understood implicitly why he was put out of the lineup.

“He just wants me to bring it every night,” Mantha said of Blashill. “That’s basically what I need to learn and we’ve been working on it for years now and even when I was playing in GR, we were talking about it. It’s just something that needs to come to my mind and be an automatic instinct for me to move my feet as hard as I can.

“It’s all a learning process in the end. I just had to skate more, shoot more pucks, keep being good in my D-zone and I think it paid off well at the end.”

Two Way Street
For the fourth successive game, the Wings were forced to utilize an emergency recall from their AHL Grand Rapids farm club.

For the third time in four games, the emergency proved to be unwarranted.

Forward Ben Street was summoned when Frans Nielsen, shaken up in Monday’s 2-1 loss to Buffalo, was an uncertain starter. But when Nielsen was able to answer the bell, Street was returned to Grand Rapids.

It’s one of the reasons why the Wings have chosen to recall veterans - Brian Lashoff and Tomas Nosek prior to Street - to fill these emergency requirements.

“This is a situation where a guy may or may not play,” Blashill said. “And you sure don’t want a guy’s first NHL game and potentially fly parents in and then they don’t play. So that’s one thing we’re very cognizant of.”

The one up, one down scenario is also something the Wings don’t wish to put a young prospect through.

“Lots of times, that type of roller coaster hurts young players more than it helps them,” Blashill said. “We’re not interested in young players going through that roller coaster if you can avoid it.”

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