Red Wings' Justin Abdelkader: Seeing more of press box

Abdelkader has watched the past two games from the press box.

Abdelkader has been a major letdown in the attacking zone, which is best illustrated by his running total of three points (all assists) through 20 games. On a positive note, with a neutral plus-minus rating, he's one of only four Red Wings not owning a negative mark in that popular category. Head coach Jeff Blashill recently complimented the veteran winger on his work ethic in a report by Ansar Khan of MLive.com. "I am not sending a message (with the benching) per se," Blashill said. "First of all, I think Justin is a great person, a really good pro, has been a really good Red Wing, cares a ton about being a Red Wing, so I really don't like to put him in a position where we have to talk about this because he works hard, competes hard."