from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News, The Wings have had six games this season. How many of those games has Mantha felt, coming off the ice, he’s had a good game? Detroit Red Wings right wing Anthony Mantha has one goals and two assists while being a minus-5 in six games. “One,” said Mantha, during Monday’s Zoom chat with the media. “The afternoon game against Columbus (Jan. 18), the one we won in overtime.” He has a power-play goal in the 3-2 OT win at Little Caesars Arena. That, in itself, goes a long way to show how much of a frustrating start to this season it’s been for Mantha. “Oh yeah,” Mantha said. “It’s not something that I like, to not be involved and help the team. I’m someone that’s hard on myself and I want to get better and that’s the mentality I’m going in with. “Today was a good day at practice and it’s fun when we play every other night, so I can redeem myself as quick as (Tuesday) night.” In a sluggish start to this season, Sunday’s loss in Chicago was a personal low point for Mantha. read on

The Wings did pratice today but there was no media coverage. Tweets from Max Bultman from Zoom media conference. Jeff Blashill says Namestnikov practiced at center today. Doesn't mean he'll play there tomorrow, but at least sets up the possibility for it in the near future Anthony Mantha says he's watched film and talked with Blashill in recent days, and that he'll do everything in his power to not have to sit again, as he did for much of the third period yesterday Anthony Mantha says the only game he came off the ice feeling like he played well so far this season was the OT win over Columbus. It's pretty clear the slow start has bothered him as much as anybody I will post videos if they become available.

Five minutes of your time.  

NEW YORK (Jan. 25, 2021) – Montreal Canadiens center Tyler Toffoli and University of Montreal Health Centre (CHUM) respiratory therapist Virginie Hébert have been named the NHL’s “First Stars” for the week ending Jan. 24. Throughout the 2020-21 season the NHL is celebrating the remarkable efforts of the off-ice stars who make it possible for us to play our games amid a pandemic by honoring frontline healthcare heroes from the regions represented by the League’s weekly and monthly “Stars.” Hébert has been a respiratory therapist (RT) since 2017, working to maintain, restore or assist airway function for people who have difficulty breathing. During the pandemic, she has distinguished herself by giving additional trainings to colleagues to share the latest protocols and procedures to follow during this critical period, in order to keep patients and staff safe as well as reduce the risk of virus transmission. For the past 10 months, Hébert and her colleagues have been working selflessly, alongside doctors and other healthcare professionals, to help treat and hopefully save coronavirus patients experiencing respiratory distress. Their duties include tracking patients’ oxygen levels, managing their breathing, assisting with intubations and monitoring patients connected to mechanical ventilators, exposing them to the sickest patients and to dangerous aerosolizing procedures. Hébert’s commitment to her practice as well as to her patients have made her an invaluable frontline healthcare hero within CHUM’s respiratory therapy team. Rounding out the “Three Stars” of the week are Dallas Stars center Joe Pavelski and Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson. More on each NHL player’s performance can be found below:

from Jack Todd at the Montreal Gazette, The first move was made before the playoffs began, when Bergevin signed brilliant second-round pick Alexander Romanov to a three-year deal that was announced on July 13, 2020. On Sept. 2, Bergevin sent the first signal that he was playing for real by dealing third- and seventh-round picks in 2020 to the Blues for goaltender Jake Allen and a seventh-rounder in 2022. For the first time since Jaroslav Halak was shipped to the Blues, Carey Price had a bona-fide, blue-chip backup. On Sept. 12, Bergevin sent a fifth-rounder to Carolina for defenceman Joel Edmundson, a solid, experienced 6-foot-4, 227-pound defender. On Oct. 6, Bergevin took his biggest off-season gamble, dealing the somewhat enigmatic Max Domi to Columbus for Josh Anderson, a one-time fourth-rounder coming off shoulder surgery and a one-goal season — then signing Anderson for seven years and $38.5 million. On Oct. 12, Bergevin proved that he wasn’t done. He signed forward Tyler Toffoli, once a key part of the Los Angeles Kings in their championship days, to a four-year, $17-million deal. All that, and Bergevin managed to keep two of his own key pieces in place, signing Jeff Petry to a four-year extension and Brendan Gallagher to a six-year extension. Then in December, Bergevin topped it off by signing veterans Corey Perry and Michael Frolik for the taxi squad at $750,000 each for the season. On digital paper, it looked good. Great, even. But you know what they say about playing the games. Now the Canadiens have played six games, all part of a season-opening schedule that loomed like the Bermuda Triangle, with six straight on the road and no exhibition games to prepare. They still haven’t lost in regulation. read on

from Larry Brooks of the New York Post, Igor Shesterkin and Alex Georgiev combined to start 18 of the Rangers’ final 19 regular-season games last season, so the tandem certainly should have felt comfortable getting behind the wheel this season following the buyout of Henrik Lundqvist. But if it was one thing for the young Russians to take over around the midway point of 2019-20 while the King was still there as kind of safety net/security blanket if things had gone wrong for Shesterkin upon his Jan. 6 promotion, it is another now that they have inherited the keys to the Kingdom.... No one is calling the team’s mundane netminding a five-alarm fire through this 1-3-1 getaway. But for nearly a decade-and-a-half, Lundqvist not only gave the Rangers their best chance to win every game, he was the fundamental reason they won, when they won. So far, except for Georgiev’s shutout of the outclassed Islanders in the second game, neither goaltender has given the Rangers their best chance to win. Indeed, there have been too many marginal goals and too many allowed in critical spots. The Rangers entered this season believing they were going to get superior netminding, and perhaps there is every reason, as the coach said, to believe that will be the case. more

from Emily Kaplan of ESPN, In August, Larkin said a handful of players returned to Detroit for optional practices, and by September, there were even more. Then came free agency in October, and Yzerman signed five veteran players -- goalie Thomas Greiss, forwards Vladislav Namestnikov and Bobby Ryan, defensemen Jon Merrill and Troy Stecher -- then traded for longtime New York Rangers defenseman Marc Staal. Larkin was on a text chain with his two linemates, Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi. "It was just like, another great player, another great player," Larkin says. "And then Ty texted: Are the Red Wings a wagon now?" Detroit is probably a bit away from wagon status, but there's a noticeable difference in the Red Wings this season. They split their first four games, but saw momentum halted with five players on the COVID-19 protocol list, and held out of action this weekend in Chicago (where they lost both games). Even still, there's a new swagger to the Red Wings. Detroit's goaltending is far improved (Jonathan Bernier and Greiss have combined for a .904 save percentage, a huge improvement on last season's .886 as a team) and there's more resolve (after being shut out in their opener, Detroit stormed back for a 4-2 win over a talented Hurricanes team in Game 2). "The blue line -- those guys are always screaming for the puck, they want the puck," Larkin says. "They come to the bench, and they're letting me know, and they're letting guys know that we gotta talk. It makes everyone's life easier and I think that's something we were really missing last year. Those veteran guys who came from other teams have just been emphasizing talking and wanting the puck, and it's made a huge difference." more

Sorry for the delay this morning, I slept in. THREE HARD LAPS * Chicago’s Pius Suter scored a hat trick to equal a feat achieved by only one other player in franchise history (nearly 90 years ago), while fellow rookies Kirill Kaprizov (MIN) and Ty Smith (NJD) continued their hot starts. * Joe Pavelski (1-2—3), Anze Kopitar (1-2—3) and Connor McDavid (0-3—3) also were among a group of six players who had three points Sunday, while Marc-Andre Fleury climbed the all-time shutouts list as Vegas improved to 5-1-0. * The Canucks and Senators clash tonight to open a busy week in the NHL, which is set to include three days with at least 12 games.