And in the Swedish J20 league, Liam Dower Nilsson scored a goal and added an assist, finishing at +1 with 5 shots and a 11-and-5 faceoff record in Frolunda HC’s 5-4 loss to Rogle BK.
Interestingly, [Mantha’s] numbers are showing the same production in Washington that Mantha was providing for Detroit. He’s netted six goals in 20 games with the Capitals. That works out to 0.30 goals per game. Mantha scored 95 goals in 316 games for the Red Wings. That’s also 0.30 goals per game.
He was recently promoted from the third line to second-line duty with the Caps alongside Connor McMichael and T.J. Oshie. However, the big winger was dropped from Washington’s struggling No. 1 power-play unit.
Vrana, currently out following shoulder surgery, scored eight goals in his first 11 games as a Red Wing.
While recognizing what Mantha meant to many in his team’s dressing room, Blashill assesses that Wednesday will just be business as usual once the puck drops.
“I think certainly he was a big piece of our group and really good friend to a number of our players, so that’s always different for those guys,” Blashill acknowledged. “But I also think it’s a new season and it’ll be more about getting opportunities for guys who are good friends with him to say hi and then competing against each other. So, I don’t expect it to be a real big deal.”
The Detroit Red Wings’ final game of the 2019-2020 season was supposed to take place against the Washington Capitals, but it was cancelled on March 12th, as was the rest of the NHL season. The team the Red Wings bring to Washington tonight is very different, as the Free Press’s Helene St. James notes:
“[Lucas Raymond] and Mo [Seider] have been outstanding for us,” [Robby] Fabbri said. “They’re fun to watch. They’re pretty special players and showing it early in their careers, which is nice.”
Raymond is one of multiple changes Yzerman made to the roster that limped toward the finish line in 2020. Gone are forwards Anthony Mantha, Luke Glendening, Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader, Brendan Perlini, Valtteri Filppula, Frans Nielsen, Dmytro Timashov and Christoffer Ehn; defensemen Trevor Daley, Madison Bowey, Alex Biega, Jonathan Ericsson, Patrik Nemeth and Dennis Cholowski; and goaltenders Jonathan Bernier and Jimmy Howard.
Yzerman replaced Howard with Thomas Greiss, and Bernier with Alex Nedeljkovic. The defense has been bolstered by Seider, Nick Leddy, Marc Staal, Troy Stecher, Jordan Oesterle and the return of Danny DeKeyser from back surgery. Up front, Raymond, Pius Suter and Mitchell Stephens are among the new faces. Jakub Vrana was supposed to make up for the scoring lost in the Mantha in last season’s Mantha trade, but Vrana is out through January with a shoulder injury.
“There’s a process that has to happen when you’re in a rebuild where it takes time for draft picks to come to fruition,” Blashill said. “That’s one area where we are in a better spot today. And then obviously Steve has made some moves, whether it be signing free agents or through trades, that have definitely strengthened our team.”
Blashill wanted to eat dinner Tuesday at the same restaurant he had dinner March 11, 2020, when he saw the news that the NBA had shut down. What he saw was a reminder of the last 19 months.
“The place I went to eat was closed,” he said. “It was boarded up. We’ve all been through lots in the last year and a half. I look forward to not remembering. I look forward to where we recall it, but it’s been a while.”
Defenseman Filip Hronek returns to the lineup tonight after being a surprise healthy scratch the past two games. Gustav Lindstrom (undisclosed injury) is out tonight and possibly on the weekend, too.
“When Fil plays his best, he’s doing a real good job of moving the puck,” Blashill said. “He manages it well, takes what’s given, passes it to people when they’re open, lives another day if he needs do. I think he’s always been and has been all year highly competitive and his decision-making defensively is real good. I think he can be a really good all-around defenseman who can contribute on the power play and the penalty kill.”
“I remember being pretty sure we weren’t going to play, but there was no official word,” [Wings coach Jeff Blashill] said. “Then there was an official word we weren’t going to skate and just the unknown (of it all). I had conversations with (general manager) Steve Yzerman at that point and potentially flying to Tampa, that was our next opponent. And to think about that now, there was no chance we were going to play another game after.”
The NHL had a shortened 2020-21 season beginning in January with severe restrictions upon staff and players. Flashing forward, the Wings appear to be in a much better place.
The team was going through a historically bad season when the pandemic shut things down. As they returned to Washington on Wednesday, with rookies Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond igniting things, the focus is on the future.
“(It was) as hard a year as I’ve been through professionally, and we were in a spot where we look back at it now, and think it was kind of rock bottom,” Blashill said. “(But) organizationally we started to trend in the right direction last year. We were better, and this year we have an opportunity to be better.
[Robby] Fabbri is appreciative of the return to some sense of normalcy.
“We have more freedom on the road (compared to last season),” he said. “We can go out to dinners and get out of the hotel and do things, which is nice. But you have to do your part to make sure you’re following the rules in different cities and do your part to keep yourself safe.”
It’s my least favorite time of the week, but financial pressures require me to do so, so:
This blog is generally free to use, and there are no commercial ads on this website. As I require money to operate it, however, I must raise funds from time to time.
Between helping my aunt pay her taxes and trying to save up for a new cell phone, I’m looking to raise about $1,350 over the next three months. So, if you’re able to lend a hand, any assistance in getting the taxes paid, or replacing my old S7 (which is currently dying) would be fantastic.
You’ll see these posts intermittently over the next couple of weeks. They’re not scintillating, but they’re necessary so that I can keep a roof over my head.
Via the Detroit News’s Gregg Krupa on Twitter comes this quip from coach Jeff Blashill, about three minutes’ worth of commentary, in fact, from the NHL on Sirius XM Radio:
It appears that Thomas Greiss will start opposite Vitek Vanecek in goal this evening. The Capitals’ lineup may be in flux as well, and the Wings’ morning skate lines weren’t revealed until after the teams held their media availabilities:
Here were the Red Wings’ lines and D at their morning skate today:
Tonight, Anthony Mantha will be playing his former team (DET) for the first time since getting traded. He got dinner with some of his former teammates last night (Larkin, Fabbri, Rasmussen).— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) October 27, 2021
Mantha, who faces his former team tonight, said he had dinner last night with Larkin, Fabbri and Rasmussen. “It’s going to be fun; I’m excited. It’s going to be an experience, that’s for sure.” #Caps— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) October 27, 2021
Coach Blashill in D.C., recalling the last time the team was there in 2020 when the season was called off due to Covid-19. He ate at the same spot he was going to eat at last March, that was boarded up then.— Carley Johnston (@carleykjohnston) October 27, 2021
Robby Fabbri on the team— “We’re a fiery and competitive group. We have shown a lot, but we still have a long ways to go.” #LGRW@DetroitRedWings— Carley Johnston (@carleykjohnston) October 27, 2021
Coach Blashill on trusting a young Moritz Seider— saying he’s played in professional leagues, has experience and has earned coach’s trust #LGRW@DetroitRedWings— Carley Johnston (@carleykjohnston) October 27, 2021
Catching up on todays media availability, Coach Blashill remembered the last time he was in WSH on the day the sports world stopped. He said he looks forward to putting years behind us where we recall it, but its been a while. #LGRW@DetroitRedWings— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) October 27, 2021
Here’s Robby Fabbri’s media availability…
And here’s coach Blashill’s:
Update: Here’s the YouTube version of Blashill’s remarks:
