Detroit Red Wings: Anthony Mantha and Dylan Larkin continue to shine
By Bob Heyrman
Although the Detroit Red Wings were unable to take part in the NHL playoffs, they have a few players sprinkled throughout the IIHF World Tournament.
For some of the top Detroit Red Wings players, it’s a consolation prize that they didn’t exactly want. They would rather be competing in the NHL playoffs especially this year when seemingly anything can happen. We always say, just get in, and you never know; well this season that is extremely accurate.
The Tampa Bay Lightning cruised to a record-tying 62-win season. The most impressive part is they managed to do so in the cap era with the league extremely competitive. Of course, they finished as the top seed in the East. They were promptly swept out of the first round of the playoffs by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Calgary Flames who finished as the top seed in the Western Conference was also bounced from the playoffs in the first round. It was the first time in NHL history that both conferences’ top seeds were both eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in the same year.
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What I’m saying is; this was the year to sneak into the playoffs hoping to make some noise. The Detroit Red Wings played lousy for much of 2019, until the final couple weeks of the season after they’d been officially eliminated from playoff contention.
Several Detroit Red Wings received the opportunity to play in the IIHF World tournament. Filip Hronek leads all defensemen in the tourney with 3 goals, 6 assists, 9 points. The Czech Republic native’s tremendous play is carrying over from the Red Wings season. Hronek finished the second half of the NHL season as the teams’ top defender. The future is bright for Hronek; he’s playing very well against the formidable competition the IIHF brings; this bodes well for the Wings.
Anthony Mantha is thriving as a member of Team Canada. He leads the entire tourney with 7 goals. He’s tied for fifth in the tournament with 11 points. Mantha, like Hronek, finished the Detroit Red Wings regular season on absolute fire playing on a line with Tyler Bertuzzi and Dylan Larkin.
It seems Mantha’s hot streak wasn’t a fluke; he’s found his confidence. I could see Mantha finally achieving 30 goals with the Wings next season. The way he’s playing recently, I wouldn’t put it past him to become the first Red Wing to score 40 goals since Marian Hossa accomplished the feat in 2009. Team Canada will play Denmark today, their final round-robin contest.
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Dylan Larkin recorded the game-winning goal yesterday for USA midway through the third period against a stout German team. Larkin was driving to the net from the left-wing side of the ice when James Van Riemsdyk found him with a cross-ice pass. Larkin deposited the pass top-shelf knocking the water bottle out of its carriage. Dylan has recorded 3 goals, 2 assists through six games in the tourney. Team USA will play its Quarterfinals game on Thursday.