Anthony Mantha doesn’t have to outrun Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt. He just has to keep up enough to make their speed matter.
That’s the balancing act the new Devils winger is working through after getting his first regular-season look beside New Jersey’s two quickest playmakers in Wednesday’s 3-2 overtime win over the Philadelphia Flyers. The trio didn’t connect for a goal, but the early returns were good enough for coach Sheldon Keefe to leave the line intact. Mantha logged 17:24 in his Devils debut and put one shot on goal.
“There aren’t many players who can keep up with them,” Mantha told NJ.com following Devils practice on Friday. “You need to play smart. Sometimes you need to cut corners a little bit to get up to the same speed as them and get into the right position.”
Hughes and Bratt have spent years building chemistry, and both are among the fastest and most creative players on the roster. Bratt set up Hughes for the overtime winner against Philadelphia, a reminder of how dangerous that duo can be when they’re in sync.
Mantha’s role is different. At 6-foot-5 and 234 pounds, he brings size to a line built on pace, and that gives New Jersey something else to lean on. He can finish around the net, help recover pucks and create the kind of traffic that makes life harder for opposing goaltenders.
That showed up on Dougie Hamilton’s second-period goal. After Hamilton’s first shot was blocked, he tracked down the puck and fired again, with Mantha planted right in front of Flyers goaltender Joseph Woll. The screen kept Woll from getting a clean look and helped tie the game at one.
“I thought Mantha did a really nice job there,” Keefe said. “I don’t think he gets an assist on Dougie’s goal there.
But if he’s not standing at the net front and providing that traffic, we’re probably not putting that one in. So just little subtle things that he did really well that helped that line.”
For the Devils, the assignment is clear: Mantha has to read the play, choose smart routes and arrive where Hughes and Bratt can find him. That part of the job is still taking shape.
“It all comes with good positioning, good thinking and good habits,” Mantha said. “That’s what we’re trying to build.”
The 32-year-old, who was taken in the first round by the Detroit Red Wings in 2013, is trying to show he can be a dependable source of secondary offense. He has 179 goals and 367 points in 589 career games.
Even after posting career highs in goals (33) and points (64) with the Pittsburgh Penguins last season, Mantha signed a two-year, $9.5 million deal with the Devils in July.
Away from the rink, he’s also settling into a new life in New Jersey. He and his wife recently found a rental home after dealing with a tough housing market. Their daughter has started school, and the family is getting organized with three children ages 4, 2 and 6 months.
“My wife is focusing more on the house and trying to find babysitters and everything else,” Mantha said. “That’s more of a job. That’s how we work as a team in our household.”
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