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Mantha Back Ahead Of Schedule |
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Another day, another player back from the injured list.
Forward Darren Helm returned to the Detroit Red Wings lineup for Wednesday’s 5-3 loss to the Calgary Flames following a six-week absence due to a shoulder separation. Now, the team will welcome the return of right-winger Anthony Mantha, out since breaking his finger in a fight in a Dec. 2 game against the Colorado Avalanche, for Friday's game with the Nashville Predators.
“We expect Mantha to be in the lineup tomorrow,” Wings coach Jeff Blashill confirmed to Mlive.com. Mantha has missed 15 games. The Wings went 3-8-4 during Mantha’s absence.
Mantha had tallied three goals and five points in the five games prior to his injury. “He was playing excellent before he got injured,” Blashill said. “He was playing great hockey, he was a big man, he was shooting the puck, the things that I think he needs to do to be successful. He was moving his feet on a fairly consistent basis, he was pretty consistent in his effort defensively and if he does those things, he’s a really good hockey player.”
Mantha will be inserted on to a line with Frans Nielsen and Thomas Vanek, which the Wings hope will hold a twofold purpose. One, it will get Mantha flowing quickly back into his offensive skill game, and secondly, it might help ignite Vanek from his offensive doldrums if he has a finisher to feed with the puck. Vanek has just two points, both of them goals, in his last eight games.
“I want to get Mantha back up to speed,” Blashill said. “We’ve got some different thoughts and one of them is to put him with Thomas and Fransy in the sense that it gives them a real talented player for Thomas to make some of his offensive plays to. It gives some speed on the line. When Mantha’s really skating, he’s fast, so it allows a little bit more speed.
“We’ll see where that goes.”
Mantha is actually ahead of schedule in his return to action, and the Wings, who are in the midst of a 2-8-3 slide, will take any sort of positive reinforcement they can latch on to at this stage of the season.
“It’s exciting,” Mantha said. “I had a seven-day timeline a couple days ago and the finger has just been feeling better, so the doctor gave me the green light last night. I just can’t wait to be back.”
Even though he hasn’t played in over a month, Mantha’s nine goals still leave him tied for fourth on the team.
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