Anthony Mantha, one of the Vegas Golden Knights’ many trade deadline acquisitions, will find himself in the press box for Game Four of the team’s first-round series against the Dallas Stars. The big winger, dealt to Vegas by the Washington Capitals, has been ineffective for the Golden Knights through the first three games of the matchup. Vegas leads the series 2-1 over Dallas.
The news comes via The Athletic’s Jesse Granger reporting from the team’s morning skate.
Golden Knights morning skate lines, looks like Anthony Mantha may draw out of the lineup:
Barbashev—Eichel—Marchessault
Hertl—Stephenson—Stone
Dorofeyev—Howden—Amadio
Carrier—Roy—KolesarMy guess is Dorofeyev is skating in place of Karlsson, who is dealing with an injury but…
— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) April 29, 2024
Mantha has yet to find the scoresheet in the series and is without a goal in his last seven games dating back to the end of the regular season. Vegas is also struggling with him on the ice at five-on-five in the postseason, seeing just 44.2 percent of the shot attempts, 28.4 percent of the expected goals, 38.6 percent of the scoring chances, and 26.7 percent of the high-danger chances.
With the Capitals this season, Mantha was healthy-scratched once by head coach Spencer Carbery early in the season. He sat out against the Calgary Flames on October 16 before becoming a fixture in the team’s lineup after that, putting up 34 points (20g, 14a) in 56 games as he skated primarily with Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas.
Vegas sent Washington a 2024 second-round draft selection and a 2026 fourth-round draft selection in return for Mantha with 50 percent of his salary retained. Mantha, an unrestricted free agent this summer, amassed 10 points (3g, 7a) in 18 games for the Golden Knights after the deadline. He missed two games before the postseason with an undisclosed injury.
Mantha had been skating with William Karlsson and fellow deadline acquisition Tomas Hertl on Vegas’ third line. He’ll be replaced in the lineup by winger Mike Amadio.
