"He's been showing it all year," Dan Muse would say of Anthony Mantha, author of two goals and an assist -- all at pivotal points -- in the Penguins' victory here Monday. "Just great poise. Great hands. He's got that long reach, too. It's hard to defend."
To wit, all three of Mantha's points, less than three minutes apart in the second period:
That's crazy.
Almost as crazy as Mantha now a goal shy of 30, when he's now 31 years old and had never in his NHL career topped 25.
Almost as crazy as all those small-man hands on all those big-boy wingers, including that of season-long linemate Justin Brazeau, who set up both of Mantha's goals with the softest of touches and finished the evening with three primary assists.
I asked Mantha about that, and he lit up:
"Yeah, they were great," he'd reply. "The first one, he kind of saw me gain some speed and ... it's funny because we talked about that exact same play in the first, when he had it against the boards and he could've just thrown it to the middle and I was kind of on this semi-breakaway. And then that happened the exact same way."
And on his second goal, Mantha would first point out that Kris Letang was pinching, adding, "Braz gets the puck and hits me far side for another excellent chance."
Brazeau's output raised his season totals to 16 goals and 17 assists.
He and I had a talk about playmaking:
"I think it's something that, you know, it's not a bad part of my game," he'd reply. "I think I can make those plays. Obviously, the last couple of games I've been struggling a little bit with kind of doing that, but I think I got back to a little bit more of my game tonight."
Mantha's 6-5. Brazeau's 6-6. And somehow they've made contributions that've been hugely outsized in the scope of this stirring season.
THE ASYLUM
Mantha, Brazeau coming up BIG
"He's been showing it all year," Dan Muse would say of Anthony Mantha, author of two goals and an assist -- all at pivotal points -- in the Penguins' victory here Monday. "Just great poise. Great hands. He's got that long reach, too. It's hard to defend."
To wit, all three of Mantha's points, less than three minutes apart in the second period:
That's crazy.
Almost as crazy as Mantha now a goal shy of 30, when he's now 31 years old and had never in his NHL career topped 25.
Almost as crazy as all those small-man hands on all those big-boy wingers, including that of season-long linemate Justin Brazeau, who set up both of Mantha's goals with the softest of touches and finished the evening with three primary assists.
I asked Mantha about that, and he lit up:
"Yeah, they were great," he'd reply. "The first one, he kind of saw me gain some speed and ... it's funny because we talked about that exact same play in the first, when he had it against the boards and he could've just thrown it to the middle and I was kind of on this semi-breakaway. And then that happened the exact same way."
And on his second goal, Mantha would first point out that Kris Letang was pinching, adding, "Braz gets the puck and hits me far side for another excellent chance."
Brazeau's output raised his season totals to 16 goals and 17 assists.
He and I had a talk about playmaking:
"I think it's something that, you know, it's not a bad part of my game," he'd reply. "I think I can make those plays. Obviously, the last couple of games I've been struggling a little bit with kind of doing that, but I think I got back to a little bit more of my game tonight."
Mantha's 6-5. Brazeau's 6-6. And somehow they've made contributions that've been hugely outsized in the scope of this stirring season.
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits!
We’d love to have you!