The power play sputtering along at one-for-21 in their Stanley Cup playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, as the Detroit Red Wings face elimination, down 3-1 in this best-of-seven set entering Game 5 Thursday at Tampa Bay’s Amalie Arena, the hue and cry from the faithful for a recall of forward Anthony Mantha from the minor leagues has reached a fever pitch.
The Wings were 11-for-30 with the man advantage late in the season when Mantha was recalled from AHL Grand Rapids for a 10-game stint with the big club. Assuming a net front presence, he scored twice on the power play and was on the ice for six of Detroit’s 11 power-play goals during his time with the Wings.
“I know those stats, obviously,… said Detroit coach Jeff Blashill, who has been asked about the notion of recalling Mantha on a daily basis.
Here’s why he insists it isn’t going to happen.
“The first thing I look at when you look at stats is does it open your eyes to anything?… Blashill explained. “And when you see that, you say ‘OK, let’s take another look.’ Is there more there, or I guess the biggest thing is if there’s a direct correlation or no correlation? And that’s the judgement that we have to make beyond just the simple statistic that he was on the ice.
“My feeling right now is we don’t feel the correlation is as heavily related as you might looking at that statistic, as I go back and look at the goals that were scored. It’s obviously a small sample size and I think anytime you have a small sample size with statistics it gets dangerous. So I went back and looked at the goals that were scored and said I can’t say that’s the direct correlation as to that’s why we had the success at that time, putting it all on his shoulders that he was the reason why.
“And I also can’t say as I look at the issues we’re having right now that it’s by any stretch been because of a lack of a job done by Riley Sheahan and Justin Abdelkader, who are in the (net front) spot that Mantha ultimately was in.
“It’s something that we talked about. I can’t say whether we’re going to do it or not. Right now it doesn’t look like it. And the reason why is because the correlation doesn’t seem to be as strong when I look at the actual footage of the video.…
Likewise, Blashill acknowledged he’s strongly weighed the idea of putting forward Teemu Pulkkinen back into the lineup to boost the pitiful power play but again, opted not to go that route.
“You can hope that by putting somebody in . . . I’ll just walk you through a decision,… Blashill related. “Teemu Pulkkinen, maybe he could help the power play. So what I have to weigh is the idea that he could help it versus the actual application of it when he hasn’t been on it for so long.
“Can you actually develop the type of chemistry you need to have success when you only have one game and might only get two power plays and you really don’t have much practice time?
“So that’s the thing we’re weighing here – changes versus I guess maybe similar to what Tampa’s message was. The 10 guys who are on it, let’s make a few more plays. You guys are all great hockey players, you’ve been for a long time. Let’s make a few more plays on it.…
The Lightning scored three power-play goals in their 3-2 victory after going one-for-14 the first four games, so Blashill doesn’t see why his team can’t turn it around.
“Let’s challenge each other and be a little bit better on it,… he said.
Called To Sit The Red Wings recalled defenseman Xavier Ouellet from their American Hockey League farm club in Grand Rapids but Blashill was adamant that Ouellet wouldn’t be in the lineup for Game 5, that his only role would be that of security blanket, since it’s unlikely Alexey Marchenko (head laceration) will be able to play in Game 5 and that would leave Detroit on the road with just six healthy defenders.
“No, we’ll go with the six defenseman we had dressed if Marchenko is unavailable, which I suspect he will be unavailable,… Blashill said. “So Xavier is our seventh D right now and if something were to happen, somebody were to get sick, maybe an injury creeps up that we didn’t realize was as big, then maybe he’ll go in. But other than that, no.…
A Telling Tale With Ouellet’s recall from Grand Rapids, there are now seven players in the series who were selected by their respective teams in the 2011 NHL entry draft.
The trouble is, all three chosen by the Wings figure to watch Game 5 from the press box. That would be Ouellet, chosen 48th overall, forward Tomas Jurco (35th) and Marchenko (205th).
All four Lightning will be on the ice – forward Vladimir Namestnikov (27th), defenseman Nikita Nesterov (148th), forward Nikita Kucherov (58th), who leads the Stanley Cup playoffs in goals (five) and points (eight) and forward Ondrej Palat (208th) who scored Tampa Bay’s game winner in Game 4 to give the Lightning their 3-1 series advantage.
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