Notes: Athanasiou rewarded for his effort

DETROIT --Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill is all about the process, which he defines as judging the way you played, not necessarily the result.
"It's managing the puck. It's getting on people with great pressure. It's being fast coming up the ice and using our speed and putting other teams on their heels and doing it right shift by shift," Blashill told reporters after Friday's 4-2 win over Toronto. "Every shift we got to outwork, outcompete, out-detail our opponent. To me, that's the process of it.

"I think it's easy from a human emotion standpoint to let the outcome of the game dictate how you feel about how your team played, from a fan perspective, a reporter perspective and a coach perspective. I've always been somebody that felt strongly that you don't let the emotion of wins and losses cloud your vision of how you played.
"That goes with wins just as much with losses. That's why we pore over film, why we look at scoring chances. Scoring chances to me always tell the story of the game. If you out-chance your opponent, most times you're going to win."
One player whose process Blashill has liked is Andreas Athanasiou.
Although he's gone 11 games without scoring and has only two assists in that span, Blashill rewarded Athanasiou by promoting him to Detroit's second line with Dylan Larkin and Tomas Tatar.
"We'll start the game (Tuesday versus the Islanders) that way (Double-A with Larkin and Tatar)," Blashill said after Monday's practice at the BELFOR Training Center. "We just want to make sure we're rewarding guys when they're doing it right and I thought he did it right, especially the second and third periods the other night (Friday against Toronto).
"And when guys don't do it right, we got to make sure that sometimes they need a little bit of a, I guess, a reminder that they have to do it right shift in and shift out."
That player that's receiving the "reminder" is Anthony Mantha, who practiced on Detroit's fourth line Monday with Martin Frk and David Booth.
Mantha hasn't scored a goal in six games, but still leads the Wings in goals with 12, but he knows he can be better.
"I'll be honest, lately, no. I don't think I've played the way I played earlier this season," Mantha said when asked if he's been pleased with his overall game. "Not only for point-wise, just in general. I think the last couple of games I had a couple of turnovers, which earlier in the season, I didn't really do. I need to bring back my game to a simple game and just make the right plays.
"I just think I need to shoot the puck more. I think a couple of games I passed away a couple of shots and tried making cute plays instead of keeping it simple. I need to keep working hard. I need to create my chances and like I said, shoot more."
Against the Leafs, Mantha for the first time this season didn't register a shot on net. That came after registering a season high of six shots on goal in the previous game against Boston.
Blashill, however, isn't in complete agreement with Mantha's assessment of his play.
"I haven't seen him turn down a whole bunch of shots. It's not something that's been glaring to me," Blashill said. There's times where guys try to make a play instead of shooting the puck, but I haven't seen it as something that's real troublesome.
"I thought he's played pretty well. The second period, he turned pucks over that we can't turn over. He'll get lots of chances to play and be important and he's just got to make sure, part of that detail is managing the puck through the neutral zone.
"We can't be a team that turns the puck over through the neutral zone like that. It's not saying that you're not going to make mistakes. You could sit a guy every shift for a mistake. That has nothing to do with it at all. It's what's the approach over and over again."
While Mantha tries to regain his early season form, Athanasiou is adjusting to being on the wing again instead of playing center.
"I don't think it matters too much," Athanasiou said. "The only thing is with center you get your reps in on draws. For that point, it's a little bit better. I don't have any problem adjusting and going to the wing, going back and forth, center, wing - it doesn't matter to me."
As long as he's playing, Athanasiou is happy. He knows he should get plenty of opportunities to break out of his scoring drought being on a line with Larkin and Tatar, but he also feels he's had chances to score.
"There's been a few bad bounces here and there but the chances are still coming. I'm not too worried about that," Athanasiou said. "I know I'll get my chances and eventually they'll go in. Just can't really think about it. Just be ready for the next game and if I get an opportunity, just try to make the most of it.
"Sometimes the puck looks like it's going in and it doesn't go in. I hit two posts there and it stays out. A lot of nights that goes in. The chances are there.
"Unfortunately, there have been some tough breaks. But you just got to keep shooting when it's not going in and eventually it will."
It's that kind of attitude from Athanasiou which Blashill appreciates.
"He's been receptive to coaching, he's been understanding that when we're coaching him we're trying to help him become the very best he can be and I think he's been receptive to it," Blashill said. "For me, when he competes like crazy and works, he's got a real good skill set, and then he can really use that skill set.
"But you can't be a real good player in this league without competing like crazy, without working like crazy. Nobody is. I'd like to see one player that's a really good player that doesn't do that."
RED WINGS HIT THE ROAD: After spending what seemed like an eternity playing at Little Caesars Arena -- 13 of their last 15 games have been at home -- the Red Wings play their next four games on the road, beginning with a Tuesday night date in Brooklyn against the high-scoring New York Islanders.
Detroit will also visit the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday, the Boston Bruins on Saturday afternoon and after their three-day Christmas break, the Wings will conclude their four-game trip in New Jersey against the Devils on December 27.
On the road, the Wings are 6-7-1 this season, compared to 6-6-6 at home. Many of the players are looking forward to playing on the road because it's important for a team to spend time together away from the rink.
"We've played well on the road; it's a good time for us to get on the road," Justin Abdelkader said. "Obviously, we get to spend a little more time with each other and when we simplify our game, we win and we've done a good job of that on the road.
"It was a good win against Toronto and we want to continue the things we're doing well. There's always things you can correct in your game whether it's off a win or a loss, but we want to start to bank away some more points and get back up in this playoff race."
Blashill likes the Wings being on the road this time of year.
"If you had your druthers, you'd like to spend a week at home, week on the road, week at home," Blashill said. "You'd like to mix it up and not go real long stretches of either (home stands and road trips).
"But I do think, especially as you get close to the Christmas holiday, it can be a little bit of an advantage to get on the road and just have that bunker mentality and away from some of the commitments you have when you're at home."