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Blashill likes look of Sheahan-Tatar-Nyquist line |
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Jeff Blashill continues to tweak his forward lines in search of a more balanced attack but the one unit that he won’t mess with is the trio of Riley Sheahan in the middle with Tomas Tatar on the left side and Gustav Nyquist on the right wing.
“They’ve played very well together and it’s been a line that seems to be forming chemistry,” Blashill said. “With the tinkering of some other lines there’s things we can do even within games – sometimes Pav (Datsyuk) and Z (Henrik Zetterberg) are together, sometimes we can put them apart – but with that line staying intact, I think part of that is allowing them to grow into a go-to type line.”
Blashill often played the trio as a line when he was coaching the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins and thinks they have what it takes to be a dominant forward unit in the NHL.
“I talked to all three of them in the summer about becoming – not that they haven’t been real good players in the league – but really taking it on their own and doing it on their own line,” Blashill said. “They’ve been doing that and I want to continue to give them that responsibility.”
While Tatar and Nyquist are the finishers on the line, Sheahan is the conscious of the trio, doing the dirty work down low and ensuring that he is always on the right side of the puck defensively.
“He is the safety net, he’s always above (the puck),” Blashill said. “He allows those guys to be creative offensively because they know they have him above.
“It doesn’t mean those guys aren’t 200-foot players - they better be. But he is an extremely good defensive player. He’s also the net-front presence on the line, and he’s also done a pretty good job on faceoffs.
“He’s got an ability to make plays in small areas, so all three have been able to be a good O-zone line as much as anything.”
Happy Homecoming
He’s already played against his old team twice in Detroit, but Tuesday, Detroit defenseman Mike Green gets his first chance to play against the Washington Capitals, the team he spent his decade as an NHL player with, at the rink he used to call home.
“I think I was more excited, nervous the first game against them, so now it’s sort of easier but obviously a lot of memories are coming back, being in this building and it’s definitely exciting to come back here, so I’m excited for sure,” Green said.
He treasures the time he spent in Washington, being a part of the revival of the franchise.
“I was a piece of the puzzle,” Green said. “I enjoyed playing the game here. It’s exciting to see how far it’s come since I started.
“My first couple games at the Verizon Center – I think it was the MCI Center back then – there were maybe 6,000-8,000 fans and now they sell out most nights, if not every night.
“That’s quite an accomplishment for the organization.”
Blashill just sees Green, who signed with Detroit as a free agent July 1, getting better and better as a Red Wing the more time he spends with the team.
“The more comfortable you get the more confident you are,” Blashill said. “Sometimes you’re able to get comfortable right away. He had some real barriers to that with the injuries. He couldn’t get traction because of the injuries but since he’s been back from injuries we’ve had him with a pretty stable partner in terms of him and Kronner (Niklas Kronwall) being together real consistently.
“Him and the rest of the D corps kind of grasped an understanding of what we want out of all of them and as his comfort has grown his offense has grown within our team game, so he’s an elite talent and has done a real good job.”
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