Notes: Mantha says he's ready to go versus Sabres

BUFFALO -- After Thursday's morning skate, Red Wings forward Anthony Mantha told the assembled press corps he would be in tonight's lineup at KeyBank Center against the Buffalo Sabres.
"I told him (coach Jeff Blashill) after morning skate that I'm good to go," Mantha stated, "so I'll be in the lineup tonight."

Blashill echoed Mantha's claim, but he still indicated he won't really know the big winger's status until after the pre-game skate.
"I anticipate Anthony and Luke (Glendening) playing," Blashill said. "Obviously, we'll wait for sure until we get to game time. If that's the case, we'd terminate Martin Frk's emergency recall."
Mantha's injury stems from blocking a shot in San Jose, while Glendening has been nursing a plethora of injuries throughout this season.
Frk made the trip to Buffalo with the team on Wednesday and participated in the morning skate, but it appears unlikely he'll see any game action.
This has been an uneven season for Mantha.
He led Detroit with 24 goals last season and he was shooting for 30 goals this year before a hand injury derailed his quest. From Dec. 4 through Jan. 2, Mantha was sidelined, missing a total of 15 games at a time when his game was beginning to take shape.
In the last five games before the injury, he had five points, including three goals, and was plus-2.
"I had a good stretch before I got injured, before Christmas, and then it took me a couple games to get back to it and then I had a little low and I think I'm playing good hockey recently," Mantha said. "I think every player is hard on themselves; if not, I don't think they would be here. It is hard when you're not having a good game. You need to put your second effort into it, put your mind into it and try to come back to basics.
"As soon as you come back to basics, you get involved and you get in the right place on the ice and things come through after that."
At times Mantha is his own worst critic and he admits it's difficult to jump start himself if he's not at his best during a game. It comes down to confidence and finding an inner drive, which confidence breeds.

"It really comes down to skating for him," Blashill said. "When he skates, he's a big factor in the game all the time, whether it's on the forecheck, whether it's on the puck, whether he creates space for other people. He's such a big man with good skill that he creates tons of opportunities.
"It's something that I thought he was doing really well until he got hurt. Since he's been back it's been a little on-again, off-again. The first game back against Nashville I thought was excellent but the process for him will be eliminating the valleys and making sure those valleys are much more shallow, so when it's not his 'A' game, he's got a real good 'B' game.
"And what would the 'B' game be? Well, if he can maintain a physicality. I've talked to him about trying to find a couple of things that I would call fire starters, that if he does it every game, he's gonna be close to his best."
Since he is so self-aware, Mantha has relied on communicating with Blashill to establish his 'fire starters.'
"We were actually talking about it, couple days, weeks ago. For me, I think it's to be intense in those one-on-one battles, maybe in the first couple one-on-one battles, a body check in there, and obviously move my feet," Mantha said. "Those are the three check points we gave myself to the end of the year and see how it goes."
In 61 games, Mantha has 19 goals among his 36 points. He has notched four power-play goals, which is tied for second most on the team and he has one game-winning goal to his credit.
He is minus-14 and his ice time average is 17:41 per game.
"As he's moved into pro, he's had to change and he has. He's much more consistently moving his feet than when he got to GR (Grand Rapids)," Blashill asserted. "But it's not something that happens overnight and I think maybe as he grows as a pro, there's a couple of mental reminders he can put into place every night to make sure he does those things. I think with big guys it's not easy. It's easy when you're a little skater to play with energy every night. It's a lot harder with big men. And when big men don't skate, it's obvious.
"You can't hide anywhere when you're 6-foot-5 and have his skill set. I think it's just part of the growth process and some of it might be confidence, some of it might be maturity. As I've said to him, right now he's a good player in this league. I want him to be a great player. We'll keep pushing toward that."
Certainly Mantha wants to hit the 20-goal mark and though the Wings only have six games remaining, he's still confident that he can surpass last year's goal total of 24, but he's not dwelling on individual accomplishments, it is all about the team.
"Obviously, I want to finish the season hard. When there were 10 or 11 (games left) I was telling myself I had to be the best player I can be until the end and that's what I'm trying to do, and if results come they'll come," Mantha said. "For us, we want to win, we want to get confidence for next year. We want to see who we can play as a team. That's our main goal. Losing is not fun. Obviously, we're only trying to win."

KUFFNER STILL CONFIDENT, SEES IMPROVEMENT: With his fellow college free agent signee Taro Hirose racking up four points in four games, you might think Ryan Kuffner is feeling the pressure to notch his first NHL point.
But the Princeton economics major is keeping everything in perspective.
"The biggest thing is when I do get more comfortable every day, I think more chances will come," Kuffner said. "I don't really think that (needs a point to settle down) but it's more the last few games I've been able to get more comfortable and being in practice that much more you kind of learn to feed off your linemates more and figure out where they're going to be and play as a five-man unit. If you can do that, that's when you're going to get into better positions in the zone."
In four games, Kuffner is pointless, minus-1, has three shots on goal and his ice time average clocks in at 8:37, yet the experience of playing in the NHL has kept him upbeat despite his limited playing time.
"For sure, it's unreal. It's awesome. Keep trying to get a bit more comfortable every day, get more confident as well, because it's an awesome team, awesome group of guys to be around, great coaching staff," he said. "So I think just every day trying to get a bit better and getting a bit better within the system. It's incredible, just trying to learn a ton as well."
When asked which was a bigger adjustment for him, the speed of the game or learning the Wings' system, he was direct.
"I think it's a bit of both. The comfortability, just being comfortable in the system and executing from there, I think that's the biggest thing," Kuffner said. "Execution is massive on every single play around here, whether it's in the D-zone, neutral zone or offensive zone, it's massive. I think that's the biggest thing, making sure (I'm dependable) in every zone and from there you get more time in the O-zone and if you get around the net you get your chances."