Athanasiou, More Than A Skater, Proves His Worth Versus Hurricanes
By Will Burchfield
Twitter @Burchie_kid
DETROIT (CBS DETROIT) - Andreas Athanasiou has been in and out of the Red Wings lineup this season, but his performance on Tuesday night will likely to put that trend to rest.
The 22-year-old had a goal and an assist and made several impressive plays with the puck in Detroit's 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. He was named the second star of the game.
"When you get that opportunity obviously you want to make the most of it to show that, if they do take it away, I'm ready for it if I get it back," Athanasiou said. "So I'm just trying to make the most of my minutes."
He certainly did that on Tuesday night in 11:29 of ice time, impressing for the second consecutive game since being scratched against the Nashville Predators last Friday. An injury to Justin Abdelkader thrust Athanasiou back into the lineup the following night, and he scored a goal in Detroit's 3-0 win over the San Jose Sharks.
"I thought he had a good night tonight, that's two good games in a row," said coach Jeff Blashill.
Athanasiou is known first and foremost for his skating ability – and rightly so – but on Tuesday night he proved there's a whole lot more to his game. He dangled, he distributed and he dazzled with his shot. It was perhaps his most complete offensive display at the NHL level.
Early in the first period, Athanasiou pounced on a puck in the corner of the offensive zone and then, quick as a cat, flung a backhand pass to linemate Thomas Vanek, who was calling for the puck in the high slot. Vanek took care of the rest, and it was 1-0 Wings.
"Vanek made a nice dump-in, (Darren) Helm made a nice east-west play, and I kind of took a peak over my shoulder there and saw 'Vaner' coming and just shoveled it to him on the backhand," Athanasiou said. "It wasn't the greatest pass, but he's such a good player."
On the contrary, it was quite the pass indeed.
Later in the first, Athanasiou, Vanek and Helm linked up again.
Vanek fired a shot just inside the blue line that was blocked by a Hurricanes' defenseman, but Athanasiou swooped in and picked up the loose puck, cleverly pulled it between his legs and then slid a cross-crease pass to Helm. Cam Ward robbed Helm on the back door, but it was a pretty play all the same.
"That (line of) me, 'Helmer' and 'Vaner' is starting to click pretty nice," Athanasiou said.
The Hurricanes improved as the game wore on, cutting the deficit to 3-2 with a little over five minutes left in the second period. Just when it looked like they might tie things up, Athanasiou snuffed out the comeback.
Toward the end of an extended shift, he received a pass from Luke Glendening at the top of the right face-off circle, walked in on Cam Ward and ripped the puck over the goalie's glove.
"A heck of a release, bar down," said Steve Ott, who picked up the secondary assist on the play after doing some yeoman's work down low. "That's what I think the people of Detroit are going to see for a lot of years - that kid scoring goals."
Athanasiou's goal wasn't the game-winner by definition, but it was the tally that made all the difference.
"It's always good to go into the third with a two-goal lead. They got those two goals so you kind of get put on your heels a little bit, so it's nice to take away their momentum," Athanasiou said.
"Obviously," Blashill said, "a big goal in a big moment."
Athanasiou has shown a knack for maximizing his playing time through his short NHL career. That trend continued on Tuesday night, which just may put another one to bed.
As captain Henrik Zetterberg said, "Double-A keeps delivering."