Notes: Mantha has taken significant step this season

DETROIT -- By all accounts, Anthony Mantha has taken a significant step forward in his development this season.
Mantha, 23, leads the team with 24 goals in 76 games this season after recording 17 in 60 games last season.

Mantha has also added 21 assists, giving him 45 points, nine more than he had last season.
"I think my consistency this year was a little better the whole year," Mantha said. "Obviously I just had a big slump here, but I think I was playing pretty good hockey in general. It's something I talked to Blash a lot this year. It was something he thought I got better at."
Mantha scored right after the team's power play expired late in the second period Thursday night in Buffalo on a rebound at the left doorstep.
It was Mantha's first goal in 12 games, with his previous one coming March 6 at Boston.
Wings coach Jeff Blashill pulled Mantha aside for a long discussion before a game in New Jersey earlier this season.
"We talked about pretty much everything since I came up, since the day I got drafted," Mantha said. "We just wanted to have the same mindset on where we were going in the future and where he was waiting with me, what I was waiting for on my part and the team. It was really a good conversation."
Blashill has repeatedly said his role is to remind players when they are on the right path to achieving greatness and when they stray from that path.
"It wasn't come to a head (meeting) but if you don't get this, it's going to keep you from being a great player on a great team," Blashill said. "I don't think there's any question that Anthony's going to be a scorer in this league. But does he want to be a great player on a great team? Ultimately to be that, I think Taylor Hall's a real good example of a guy who, my understanding, talking to people around the organization there, I think Taylor's made a real conscious effort to go from being just a good scorer on honestly, bad teams, to a good scorer who's got his team in the playoffs today. That's what you can do if you make that decision."
One of the challenges for Mantha was having to change some of the habits that allowed him to be extremely successful in junior hockey, where he had 57 goals and 63 assists in 57 games in his last year at Val d'Or in 2013-14.
The first step was getting stronger, adding muscle to his 6-foot-5 frame.
"My first camp I was 18 and right before going back to junior, I went into the corner, I think it was against (defenseman Brooks) Orpik and he just took me and pushed me away like nothing," Mantha said. "I remember telling my parents, 'That doesn't happen in juniors.' I was bigger than everyone, taller than everyone. After my first year in GR, Blash and I talked about and he wanted me to put 20-25 pounds on. That helped out a lot."
The next step was getting Mantha to bend his knees and really skate like he's capable of skating, something he never really had to do in juniors.
"Ultimately, for your team to win, you have to win puck races, you have to win puck battles, you have to bring other elements to the game - physicality," Blashill said. "But I think in his case it's just a matter of when he skates, he wins puck battles. When he skates, he wins puck races. When he skates, he eliminates chances against on the track. When he skates, he creates turnovers on the forecheck. Those are things that help our team win."
After getting Mantha to skate on a more consistent basis, Blashill then asked him to play more around the net, becoming a net-front presence.
"I think the first time I played there I think it was my second year in GR," Mantha said. "You're used to playing half wall for six, seven years and then the next year you're playing net-front. I watched a couple of clips, watched a lot of guys during games. Learning the little details of placing the body, brushing the D out at the right moment. Just the little details you start learning and then you practice every day. It's completely different."
Blashill said Mantha has learned this season that there are plenty of goals to be found in that area.
"I think a lot of guys naturally think of the net front as almost a non-skilled position," Blashill said. "Mike Knuble told this to me a long time ago, he found the one spot on the ice in the slot area that he knew he could score and it kept him in the league a long time, he scores lots of goals. that's what net-front does. It gets you around the area where you score. Last night's a great example. Our power play hadn't done much at all. All the sudden we get a shot, he tips it, puts in kind of a tap-in goal. It was a great tip but he put in the goal right there. That's where the goals are scored. So if you want goals to come from not just pure snipes, be around that net as much as possible."
Players always want to work on something over the offseason.
Blashill was asked what Mantha's next challenge will be this summer.
"I think he's done a good job with his frame," Blashill said. "For lack of better word, real good hockey players, they're big down here, and he's gotten bigger down there - call it a hockey butt. He's developed that much better. I think when you got that, especially a tall guy, it helps your center of gravity. Building on that a little bit, I don't think it's going to be lots, just continuing to challenge his body and get as explosive as possible and keep that good strength and low center of gravity."
FOSTER MANIA: The emergency goaltender never really expects to play but it can happen.
Thursday night in Chicago, former Western Michigan goaltender Scott Foster was pressed into duty when Anton Forsberg suffered a season-ending injury in the pre-game and backup Collin Delia - making his NHL debut - suffered severe cramping and had to be helped off the ice.
Everyone in hockey was captivated by the now 36-year-old accountant/men's league goaltender, who stopped all seven Winnipeg Jets' shots he faced, including that of sniper Patrik Laine.
"It's unreal," Blashill, a former goaltender himself, said. "I haven't checked it out myself yet but I know some of the guys were looking at it. To be able to make saves, I think it's unbelievable. It has to be like a dream come true. Who would have guessed? So that's cool for him. Good Bronco."
As the Wings landed in Detroit after their 6-3 win in Buffalo, they were all talking about what Foster had done.
"A really surreal moment for him, from having to throw your gear on to all of a sudden being in there and having to make seven saves," goaltender Jimmy Howard said. "It's pretty cool."
Howard said being thrust into the net so quickly probably helped Foster.
"All of a sudden you're in there, so he probably didn't have any time to think," Howard said. "Just probably got jacked up on adrenaline and went out there and did his thing.
"I'm sure there was probably a lot of mixed emotions going through his head. I'm not really sure how difficult it would be. He did a great a job. That's a moment he'll have forever."
Foster earned first star honors for his work.
Every NHL team is required to have an emergency goaltender for every game.
Blashill said Wings assistant general manager Ryan Martin is in charge of arranging that for Detroit. The Wings have not come close to such an event.
"The other thing we have obviously is Grand Rapids is two hours away," Blashill said. "So it has to be a really, really tough spot, it has to be right before game time. Almost in any situation, unless they're on the road, and even their road games lots of times aren't that far away, so I think we're in a good spot that way."