The less he plays, the more he does.
In the opinion of Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill, it’s what makes rookie forward Andreas Athanasiou a special player.
“I talked to him this morning about the fact that he's got the ability to play less minutes and still have an impact,… Blashill said of Athanasiou. “I thought he did a good job through two periods.
“When he wants to own the moment, he's real good.…
Athanasiou owned the moment Sunday, netting his first Stanley Cup goal, and it proved to be the game winner in Detroit’s 2-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Joe Louis Arena.
The Lightning still lead the best-of-seven opening-round set 2-1 but with Game 4 slated for Tuesday at Joe Louis Arena, both teams were left with something to think about.
If the Tyler Johnson-Alex Killorn-Nikita Kucherov line doesn’t score, will anyone score for the Lightning?
Fed a steady diet of a big, physical Detroit line of Justin Abdelkader, Riley Sheahan and Luke Glendening, that trio failed to register a shot on goal in Game 3 after combining for seven goals in Games 1 and 2.
“The one thing we talked about this morning is you can’t go out there and defend all night,… Blashill said. “So with that line we felt Glendening, Sheahan and Abdelkader could do a good job of trying to make Johnson’s line defend them and I thought they did a pretty good job out there.
“They are big guys, they can roll around the offensive zone and spending time in the other team’s zone is the best defense.…
From the Detroit standpoint, considering none of their scorers are scoring, shouldn’t it be time for Athanasiou’s ice time to be stepped up?
He played 9:06 Sunday, up from his 8:09 average from the first two games, but hardly saw the ice after Detroit garnered its two-goal advantage.
“Whenever I get my shifts, I’m going to be ready for it,… Athanasiou said. “I’m going to do what I can to make the most of that shift and just try to help the guys win.…
Earlier in the game, Athanasiou disarmed Tampa Bay defenseman Jason Garrison with a sensational 360 spin move to create a scoring chance, but his shot sailed well past the Lightning net.
“That spin move was nice,… Blashill said. “Imagine if that had gone in?…
The rookie wasn’t about to add his voice to the many demanding that he play more.
“Whenever I get my shifts, I’m going to be ready for it,… Athanasiou said. “I’m going to do what I can to make the most of that shift and just try to help the guys win.…
Petr’s Puck Seeing his first action of the series, Petr Mrazek made 16 saves to record his third Stanley Cup shutout, all of them against the Lightning, the only team he’s ever faced in the playoffs.
“Every game is different,… Mrazek said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s Tampa or somebody else.
“We knew from last year the series was going to be tight, that every inch of the ice was going to be tough to go through. We have to be ready for that.…
Mrazek also displayed a good combination of hockey sense and common sense when he grabbed teammate Brendan Smith in a bear hug to prevent him from retaliating against Tampa Bay’s Braydon Coburn, who’d just taken an interference penalty for knocking Smith down in front of the Detroit net.
“I try just to hold him a little bit just so he don’t bump him and get two minutes and it would be four or four,… Mrazek explained. “They would probably pull the goalie so I try to just hold him so we’d get the power play.…
Smith Delivers Smith was also playing for the first time in the series and his skating strength and ability to move the puck helped neutralize Tampa Bay’s offensive capabilities.
“I thought Smith made an immediate impact,… Blashill said.
Smith wasn’t about to bask in the glory.
“Every win's huge, every shift's huge and we're just going to go and try to get prepared here, flush everything and make sure that we have our best next game here at home,… Smith said. “And our fans are huge. We love to play here at home, so they gave us some extra momentum.
“You guys are giving me a lot of credit but I think you’ve got to give everybody else credit and our fans up there.…
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