Red Wings' Anthony Mantha: No lock to play Wednesday

Mantha is not sure if he will play Wednesday against the Avalanche after sitting on the bench for the last two games, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Analysis:

Wings coach Jeff Blashill alluded to the rookie needing to break bad habits. "You use the word message, but for me it's all about habits and if habits are going the wrong way or if habits are formed," Blashill said. "How do you change habits? You teach, you talk, you show video and sometimes you have to take away ice time. That's the reality of it. So that might be in-game, that might be for a single game, might be for multiple games." Mantha went minus-2 last Thursday in a 6-1 thrashing from the Bruins, so perhaps that's the reason why he's in the coach's dog house. Even so, the power winger has played extremely well overall, pitching in 14 goals, 19 assists and a plus-12 rating through 50 contests.