Tuesday's hockey: Ex-Wing Mantha traded to Vegas; Isles four points behind Detroit
The Vegas Golden Knights acquired former Red Wings forward Anthony Mantha from the Washington Capitals in a trade finalized Tuesday.
The defending Stanley Cup champions sent a 2024 second-round pick and a 2026 fourth-rounder to Washington for the pending free agent. The Capitals are retaining half of Mantha's salary.
Mantha just reached 20 goals in a season for the first time since 2019. He gives Vegas a valuable depth player as it tries to become the first repeat title winner since Pittsburgh in 2016 and ’17. In six years in Detroit, Mantha scored 95 goals in 302 games from 2015-2021.
The 29-year-old was one of several likely trade candidates the Capitals have to move before the deadline Friday. Fellow forwards Max Pacioretty (Michigan) and Nicolas Aube-Kubel and defenseman Joel Edmundson are also pending free agents expected to be traded, along with center Nic Dowd and goaltender Charlie Lindgren, who are signed through next season.
The Golden Knights may also not be done dealing as they seek to make another long playoff run. After putting captain Mark Stone on long-term injured reserve, they have more cap space to use on acquisitions.
Augustine earns Big Ten honor
Freshman netminder Trey Augustine (South Lyon) earned Big Ten Second Star of the Week honors after backstopping Michigan State to its first-ever Big Ten regular-season title.
Augustine stopped 80-of-85 shots he faced last weekend against Wisconsin, including 44 in Friday's 5-2 victory that sealed MSU's regular-season crown. The 44 saves tied his season best, originally established against Minnesota on Nov. 24.
Augustine, a second-round draft choice of the Detroit Red Wings in 2023, is one of 10 finalists for the Mike Richter Award as the best collegiate goalie in 2023-24.
He ranks third nationally in saves (979) and his save percentage (.917) is 17th. The youngest goaltender in Division I hockey, Augustine has won 20 games between the pipes, one of just six goalies nationally to reach the mark and the first at MSU since All-American Jeff Lerg in 2007-08.
His three shutouts rank fifth nationally, and all three shutouts have come on the road in Big Ten play – at Ohio State (Nov. 3), at Penn State (Jan. 12), and at Notre Dame (Feb.3).
Augustine and the Spartans are off this week with a bye as the Big Ten champions will host a Big Ten semifinal on March 16 at Munn Ice Arena.
Tuesday's NHL games
Edmonton 2, (at) Boston 1 (OT): Leon Draisaitl scored 2:18 into overtime for his second goal of the game for the Oilers' fifth consecutive victory.
Draisaitl also tied it at 1-1 with his 31st goal of the season with 1:20 left in the third. He ended the game with a one-timer off a crossing pass from Connor McDavid.
Stuart Skinner made 25 saves for the Oilers, and Evan Bouchard had two assists. McDavid also had two assists, extending his point streak to 12 straight games.
Pavel Zacha scored for Boston 4:26 into the third period. Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark stopped 24 shots.
Dallas 7, (at) San Jose 6 (OT): Wyatt Johnston had his first career hat trick and the Stars rallied from three goals down in the third period to beat the Sharks on Roope Hintz’s overtime goal.
Johnston had a five-point night with two assists, Logan Stankoven had two goals and two assists, and Jamie Benn had a goal and three assists to get Dallas off to a good start on a three-game California swing. Jake Oettinger made 14 saves.
Anthony Duclair had his third two-goal game since the All-Star break and added two assists to lead the Sharks, who are winless in their last eight games.
Fabian Zetterlund, Ryan Carpenter, Filip Zadina and Mikael Granlund also scored for San Jose. Kaapo Kahkonen made 33 saves.
Vancouver 2, (at) L.A. Kings 1 (OT): J.T. Miller scored on a power play 1:36 into overtime, and Vancouver beat Los Angeles.
Miller scored from the right faceoff circle on a slap shot for his 31st of the season. Vancouver earned its second straight win and remained on top of the Western Conference.
Elias Pettersson, who signed an eight-year extension with the Canucks on Saturday, scored in the second period. He became the seventh player in franchise history to record at least 30 goals in three straight seasons. Thatcher Demko stopped 23 shots and picked up his NHL-leading 32nd win.
Trevor Moore scored for Los Angeles, and Cam Talbot made 29 saves.
(At) N.Y. Islanders 4, St. Louis 2: Bo Horvat scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and New York won its fourth straight game, topping St. Louis.
Kyle Palmieri, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Mathew Barzal also scored for the Islanders who moved within four points of the Philadelphia Flyers for the third spot in the Metropolitan Division, which would guarantee them a spot in the playoffs. Ilya Sorokin finished with 19 saves.
Alexey Toropchenko and Jordan Kyrou scored for the Blues, who had won their last two games. Rookie goaltender Joel Hofer made 29 saves.
Chicago 5, (at) Arizona 2: Nick Foligno scored one of Chicago’s four power-play goals, and the Blackhawks ended a 22-game road losing streak with a win over Arizona.
Chicago, the NHL’s worst team on the power play, went 4 for 5 with the man advantage for its first road win since Nov. 9 at Tampa Bay.
Seth Jones had two goals for the Blackhawks, including an empty-netter with 28 seconds remaining. Arvid Soderblom stopped 37 shots.
Jason Dickinson and Philipp Kurashev also scored for Chicago, which had dropped seven in a row.
Nick Bjugstad and Michael Carcone scored for Arizona, and Connor Ingram had 27 saves.
Montreal 4, (at) Nashville 3 (OT): Nick Suzuki scored at 17 seconds of overtime to lead Montreal to the victory over Nashville.
Brendan Gallagher, David Savard and Joshua Roy also scored and Jake Allen made 25 saves for the Canadiens, who snapped a two-game losing streak.
Ryan O’Reilly scored a goal and assisted on two others, Filip Forsberg and Gustav Nyquist each had a goal and an assist and Juuse Saros made 26 saves for Nashville. The Predators had their eight-game winning streak snapped.
Seattle 4, (at) Winnipeg 3: Andre Burakovsky scored a power-play goal with 2:39 remaining in the third period to lift Seattle to a victory over Winnipeg.
Jets forward Mason Appleton had just blocked a shot, but Burakovsky got the puck and fired it over goalie Connor Hellebuyck’s glove.
Jared McCann had a goal and two assists and Justin Schultz and Tomas Tatar also scored for the Kraken. Joey Daccord made 30 saves for Seattle.
Kyle Connor, Adam Lowry and Nino Niederreiter scored for the Jets. Hellebuyck stopped 20 shots.
Florida 5, (at) N.J. Devils 3: Nick Cousins had two goals and Florida beat New Jersey for their sixth straight win, spoiling the debut of interim Devils coach Travis Green.
Eetu Luostarinen, Evan Rodrigues and Sam Reinhart also scored as the Panthers won for the 12th time in 13 games. Florida leads the NHL with 43 wins and 90 points, and it is 25-4-2 since Dec. 23.
Anthony Stolarz made 22 saves for Florida.
Jack Hughes, Timo Meier and Colin Miller scored for the Devils in their first game since general manager Tom Fitzgerald relieved Lindy Ruff of his coaching duties on Monday. New Jersey goaltender Akira Schmid made 26 saves.
(At) Pittsburgh 5, Columbus 3: Jeff Carter and Reilly Smith scored just over a minute apart midway through the third period and Pittsburgh beat Columbus to snap a three-game losing streak.
The Blue Jackets had tied it earlier in the period on a short-handed goal by Jack Roslovic before Carter and Smith beat rookie goaltender Jet Greaves to give the Penguins some breathing room.
Evgeni Malkin, Rickard Rakell and Jesse Puljujarvi also scored for Pittsburgh. Johnny Gaudreau and Andrew Peeke also had goals for the Blue Jackets.
Playoff tracker
Atlantic
▶ Panthers (90)
▶ Bruins (87)
▶ Maple Leafs (78)
Metropolitan
▶ Rangers (84)
▶ Hurricanes (78)
▶ Flyers (72)
Wild card
▶ Red Wings (72)
▶ Lightning (72)
(Top two wild-card teams make the playoffs)
▶ Islanders (68)
▶ Capitals (65)
▶ Devils (64)
▶ Pittsburgh (64)
▶ Sabres (62)
Fitzgerald waited to fire Ruff
New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald ripped his underperforming team and himself for causing the firing of Lindy Ruff less than a year after the veteran coach led the franchise to its best regular-season record.
Speaking less than a day after relieving Ruff of his coaching duties, Fitzgerald said Tuesday he waited as long as possible for the team to turn things around but eventually fired his good friend after seeing the young team lose five of its last seven games and fall further behind in the race for a wild-card playoff berth.
“It’s on all of us,” Fitzgerald said. "This is on all of us. I just spoke to the team, and a good man lost his job because of an underperforming team. Like I said, it starts with me up here. I’m the one creating this team. I’m trying to build this team around the pillars that we have.
“It’s not good enough. It hasn’t been, wishing and hoping it would change is not a plan. Individuals need to look in the mirror. All of us. Effort wasn’t good enough. It’s not good enough. We have better.”
The job of turning the Devils around in the final 21 games of the regular season now belongs to Travis Green, the former Vancouver head coach who was added to the staff this season. He addressed reporters after the pregame skate for Tuesday night's game against Eastern Conference-leading Florida.
Green said he is not going to change everything at once, but he will be demanding and some players may sit if they are not playing with energy or they are not doing their jobs.
“My job is to help make them play the best hockey that they possibly can,” said Green, who said he spoke with Nemec after practice.
The Devils had a 30-27-4 record under Ruff this season, a year in which New Jersey has not had a winning streak of more than three games and not posted a shutout. Injures to defensemen Dougie Hamilton (pectoral), Jonas Siegenthaler (broken foot), star forward Jack Hughes (upper body) and a sexual assault investigation in Canada involving center Michael McLeod have left the team without key pieces for long periods.
The Devils, who gave Ruff a new contract months ago, also have been forced to play two young rookie defensemen in Simon Nemec and Luke Hughes. The problem has been compounded by the goaltending inconsistencies of Vitek Vanecek, Nico Daws and Akira Schmid.
Fitzgerald said he is looking to acquire a No. 1 goaltender before Friday's trading deadline, but he is not going to mortgage the future to get one.
“I believe we’re a very good offensive team, we’re generating chances,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re not getting as much off the rush because of the way teams play us, knowing they cannot exchange rush chances with us. But at the end of the day to win games and to win championships you have to defend well.”
Michigan-area hockey this week
Wednesday
▶ Red Wings at Colorado, 9:30 (TNT/97.1)
Friday
▶ Red Wings at Arizona, 9 (BSD/97.1)
▶ Chicago at Grand Rapids, 7 (AHL/106.9/1300)
▶ Notre Dame at Michigan, 7
▶ Miami University at Western Michigan, 7
▶ Bowling Green at Michigan Tech, 7
▶ Northern Michigan at Mankato, 8
▶ Ferris State at Bermidji State, 8
Saturday
▶ Red Wings at Vegas, 10 (BSD/97.1)
▶ Grand Rapids at Milwaukee, 7 (AHL/106.9/1300)
▶ Notre Dame at Michigan, 7
▶ Miami University at Western Michigan, 6
▶ Bowling Green at Michigan Tech, 6
▶ Northern Michigan at Mankato, 7
▶ Ferris State at Bermidji State, 7
▶ NTDP U17s at Chicago, 7
Sunday
▶ Bowling Green at Michigan Tech, 5 (if necessary)
▶ Notre Dame at Michigan, 7 (if necessary)
▶ Northern Michigan at Mankato, 5 (if necessary)
▶ Ferris State at Bermidji State, 6 (if necessary)
▶ NTDP U18s at Chicago, 4
Monday
▶ Cleveland 5, Grand Rapids 3