Notes: Athanasiou leads Wings in goals, is third in points

DETROIT -- Andreas Athanasiou has always been a dazzling player when he gets going.
With his speed and skill, Athanasiou needs only seconds to turn a mundane play into a spectacular one.

While the Red Wings need their rookies to play well, it's the improvement from their young core of players -- Athanasiou, Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi -- that will determine how good the team can be.
Right now Athanasiou leads the Wings with 11 goals.
Larkin and Mantha are close behind at nine goals apiece and Bertuzzi has eight.
"One, his engagement level from Day One at training camp has been really good and if his engagement level is really good, he gets lot of ice time, when he gets ice time it puts him in position to produce," Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "He's utilized his assets -- his speed and his skill -- and I think a lot of those have been on display. Whether he's played with (Gustav) Nyquist or played with (Frans) Nielsen or played with (Thomas) Vanek -- those would be the majority of guys he's played with -- they're all real good offensive players and they know how to utilize him more."
What's even more impressive is that Athanasiou has needed just 21 games to score his 11 goals.
Last season Athanasiou started a little slow after missing training camp and the beginning of the season because of a contract holdout so he did not get his 11th goal until his 48th game on Feb. 20 against the Nashville Predators.
During the 2016-17 season, Athanasiou scored his 11th goal in his 33rd game on Jan. 24 at Boston.
"I think my goal personally is to just try and do whatever I can to help the team win every night," Athanasiou said. "I want to be one of the top guys on the ice. I want to be a hard player to play against. I want to produce for the team. If that means leading the team in any way, it's something I want to do. Anytime you help the team it's always a good feeling for sure. That's definitely my goal."
Since returning from missing four games with an injury, Athanasiou has seven goals and three assists in 10 games.
"I think it was just being ready when I was feeling comfortable with my body and I was ready to come back from the injury," Athanasiou said. "But I think the team's been playing so well that it makes it little bit easier when everyone around you is playing so well. It kind of just flows. It's definitely a good feeling." L
arkin leads the team in points with 21, Nyquist is second with 18 and Athanasiou is third with 16.
Bertuzzi has 15 points and Mantha has 14.
Larkin is encouraged with the way the young core is producing.
"It's been huge," Larkin said. "I think they've been timely goals, you see Tyler's last game, his two goals were huge and I know he scored another game-winner there in Columbus earlier in the year. He's always around the net. Double-A's speed, ever since he's come back from his ankle injury has been huge for us and it's made our team a lot faster and he's dangerous every time he's on the ice.
"Those two guys and Anthony's been getting hot as well. It's not just us four, it's depth scoring. You need depth scoring to be a good team and a good team in the playoffs. In the end, that's what we're looking to be is a good playoff team and it's good to see all the guys scoring."
Athanasiou is also third on the team in plus-minus at plus-3. Mike Green is plus-9 and Luke Glendening is plus-7.
"I think everyone's playing so well," Athanasiou said. "You can kind of see it reflects on the ice. We're playing some good hockey. It's definitely a good feeling to see your teammates doing well and yourself well as well."

GREEN'S IMPACT: While the young forwards have helped the Wings dig out of the hole they were in after the 0-5-2 start, there's no question that veteran defenseman Green has also been a huge part of that.
Green missed the first nine games of the season with a virus.
When he returned, Green had three assists in his first four games but was minus-3.
In his last 12 games, Green is plus-12.
"Part of playing better is finding ways to win and finding ways to win is producing offensively and he produces offensively," Blashill said. "So not only has he made a lot of good plays, but they result in offense. I think having a guy with his stature in the league, with his ability, when you get him back in the lineup, you're just a way better team. That's why we signed him this year.
"He's a great model for your young players. He's great for (Dennis) Cholowski to see, the way that he works every day and pays attention to detail but he also helps our team win. So I think having him back in and his ability to move the puck, his ability to produce offense when he is in the rush, when he is in the O-zone, those plays he made the other day on both those goals in the second period were excellent hockey plays. So it's good to have him in the lineup for sure."
Fellow veteran defenseman Niklas Kronwall said the team's outlook changed immediately when Green came back.
"I don't know if you can put into words what he means to this team, what he brings," Kronwall said. "He's a dynamic player and he can push the play from the back end. We don't have too many of those guys. We're fortunate that he's playing on our team and he's playing really well now, not just pushing the pace, but creating offense, making plays."
In many ways, today's NHL is well-suited for a mobile defenseman like Green.
"He's been huge, just so sound back there moving pucks," Larkin said. "He's been putting up points, too. He's been setting guys up. Last game he had a couple huge set-ups and nice goals since he's been back. Just having him, he controls the pace of play and he's smooth back there. Having a guy like that back there is huge."
Green's offensive ability has never been in question but his defensive game has also picked up.
"From the time Mike's got here, he's worked hard at his defensive game," Blashill said. "He's really gotten way better in a lot of areas, whether it was learning how to skate forwards to defend more. He's got such a good forward stride that if he can do that and gap up and lateral skate instead of necessarily flipping your hips and accepting the rush, I think he's becoming a much defender that way. He cares a ton, so his compete level in our zone is great. He's not always perfect, he wasn't the other night, but none of us are. I just know that his care level and his compete level carry him through."
DALEY UPDATE: Veteran defenseman Trevor Daley played just 3:18 against the St. Louis Blues Wednesday night before leaving with a lower-body injury.
"Right now I would still call it day to day," Blashill said. "He will not play in Boston, I don't anticipate him playing against Colorado. I think things can change but that's what I'd anticipate today and then we'll re-evaluate on Monday."
After playing Saturday in Boston, the Wings return home to host the Colorado Avalanche in the second of back-to-back games Sunday.
"We'll miss him big-time," Kronwall said. "Not just his play, but his presence. A big guy in the room and on the ice as well. He'll be a big void, but it's good to have E (Jonathan Ericsson) back in the lineup. That will fill some of that, but losing a guy of Daley's stature definitely doesn't help."