from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,

Friday morning saw Anthony Mantha admit just how bad he’d been the night before, when, after a 4-0 loss to Vegas, captain Henrik Zetterberg said there was too much poke-and-hope in some teammates, that they need to learn to play the right way. Zetterberg didn’t name names but the criticism fit Mantha and Andreas Athanasiou in particular, and Mantha owned it immediately.

“Oh for sure,” he said after an optional skate at Nationwide Arena Friday. “It wasn’t a good game for me. I made two big mistakes and it’s in the back of our net. I need to be sharper....

Athanasiou, who was on for the first and fourth goals, acknowledged a need to heed Zetterberg’s criticism.

“He’s talking to us as a group,” Athanasiou said. “Any time you have someone like that speaking out, it’s a little bit of a message to make sure you’re ready for the next one. If there’s one play where you can bear down a little more, it’s going to make a huge difference.”

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added 4:39pm, Watch the game day preview below....