Athanasiou has five goals and eight points in 21 games while averaging 9:08 of ice time per game.
"You get a chance to play with one of the best players in the world, obviously you're going to be excited," Athanasiou said. "I think my speed can complement him a little bit and give him that little extra bit of space, not that he needs it. When you give a skilled player like that a split-second more time with the puck, it's definitely going to be a huge part."
The new line combinations separated Henrik Zetterberg and Datsyuk. Zetterberg will play with Justin Abdelkader and rookie Dylan Larkin.
"It's about the line combinations, trying to put together the best combinations we think can be as effective as possible," Blashill said. "I think [Athanasiou] has had a good impact in the minutes he's played but I think other guys have as well."
The Red Wings are hoping to generate momentum starting with the opener of a three-game homestand. They've lost three straight games and are two points ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"Three in a row here, didn't manage to get a single point in three games," forward Gustav Nyquist told the Red Wings website. "Obviously that's not good enough. When you do that you see yourself right on that line again for making the playoffs, so obviously we know how important these games are for sure at home to make sure we step up and play our game and grab some wins here, some very important points. It starts with a big game tonight."
The Jets, who are 15 points out of the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference, are giving their young players more ice time and responsibility after trading captain Andrew Ladd to the Chicago Blackhawks on Feb. 25.
"Most of them are playing big minutes," Jets coach Paul Maurice said. "… They're handling it right. They're not just concerned about touching the puck. They're being complete players."
Here are the projected lineups:
JETS
Blake Wheeler - Mark Scheifele - Drew Stafford
Alexander Burmistrov - Mathieu Perreault - Marko Dano
Chris Thorburn - Adam Lowry - Scott Kosmachuk
Matt Halischuk - Andrew Copp - J.C. Lipon
Tobias Enstrom - Dustin Byfuglien
Jacob Trouba - Tyler Myers
Ben Chiarot - Paul Postma
Ondrej Pavelec
Michael Hutchinson
Injured: Grant Clitsome (upper body), Mark Stuart (hand), Bryan Little (fractured vertebrae), Nikolaj Ehlers (eye), Joel Armia (upper body)
Scratched: Anthony Peluso
RED WINGS
Justin Abdelkader - Henrik Zetterberg - Dylan Larkin
Tomas Tatar - Pavel Datsyuk - Andreas Athanasiou
Gustav Nyquist - Riley Sheahan - Teemu Pulkkinen
Darren Helm - Luke Glendening - Brad Richards
Danny DeKeyser - Kyle Quincey
Niklas Kronwall - Jonathan Ericsson
Brendan Smith - Mike Green
Petr Mrazek
Jimmy Howard
Injured: Drew Miller (knee), Johan Franzen (concussion)
Scratched: Tomas Jurco, Alexey Marchenko
Status report:Blashill also made changes to his defensive pairs, reuniting DeKeyser with Quincey and replacing Marchenko with Smith. … Mrazek will start for the Red Wings. He was pulled from the game Sunday at the Chicago Blackhawks after allowing two goals on five shots.
Who's hot:Scheifele has nine goals and five assists in his past 10 games. … Athanasiou has three goals in his past four games.
