Washington Capitals make Anthony Mantha healthy scratch for Monday’s game

Washington Capitals forward Anthony Mantha will sit out of Monday’s game against the Calgary Flames as a healthy scratch, head coach Spencer Carbery confirmed to reporters after the morning skate.

Mantha, 29, logged just 11:52 of ice time and did not take a shot on goal in the Capitals’ season-opening 4–0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday.

Carbery elaborated on Mantha’s situation shortly after Monday’s skate, after which Mantha did extra work alongside defenseman Lucas Johansen — a tell-tale sign of an impending healthy scratch.

“I feel like the biggest thing is offensively,” Carbery said. “There’s no secret he’s an offensive player. He’s not a penalty killer, he’s not a defensive specialist. He’s an offensive player that needs to create and needs to score.

“That’s sort of the area that we’ve dialled in and really focused on is trying to get his confidence level, trying to get his touches back to the level that he’s been capable of in his career.”

The Capitals originally acquired Mantha from the Detroit Red Wings ahead of the 2021 trade deadline in exchange for Jakub Vrana, Richard Panik, a 2021 first-round pick, and a 2022 second-round pick.

But Mantha has struggled greatly to find his footing since arriving in D.C., collecting just 24 goals and 58 points in 119 games over parts of four seasons with the Capitals. He managed 11 goals and 27 points in 67 games with the team in the 2022–23 regular season.

Now entering the final year of his contract — worth $5.7 million annually — with the team, Mantha is slated to be scratched in favor of younger wingers Matthew Phillips and Aliaksei Protas on Monday as the Capitals search for their first victory of 2023–24.

Darcy Kuemper is expected to start in goal when the Capitals host the Flames at Capital One Arena at 7:00 p.m. ET.