Gallant glad McPhee kept Knights intact
LOS ANGELES — Gerard Gallant never sweats the NHL’s trade deadline.
The Golden Knights coach knows he has no control over what happens and he’s content to coach whoever general manager George McPhee gives him. But he was happy that McPhee kept the team pretty much intact, adding forward Tomas Tatar and moving Brendan Leipsic.
“They had a lot of options,” Gallant said Monday prior to the Knights facing the Los Angeles Kings of McPhee and the team’s hockey operations staff. “All week long they worked hard.
“I’m pretty happy. We’re moving forward. We’ve got a good hockey club and we’ve got some good, solid depth.”
Gallant said he looked forward to having Tatar in the lineup on Tuesday. Tatar was acquired just before the deadline from Detroit for three draft picks.
“He’s been a consistent 20-, 25-goal scorer with Detroit the past few years,” Gallant said of Tatar, 27. “He’s definitely going to add to our hockey club.”
While Gallant was prepared to welcome Tatar, he was sad to see Leipsic leave. Leipsic, who had just two goals and 13 points in 44 games, was dealt to Vancouver Monday for defenseman Philip Holm.
“Brendan was a good soldier for us,” Gallant said. “He worked hard. He’s a good kid and I hope he plays well in Vancouver.”
Neal back in lineup
As expected, James Neal was in the lineup Monday against the Kings after missing three games with the flu. Neal was activated off injured-reserve and skated on a line with Erik Haula and David Perron.
With Neal on the ice, Alex Tuch dropped back down to the third line playing with Cody Eakin and Ryan Carpenter. Ryan Reaves made his debut playing with Oscar Lindberg and Tomas Nosek on the fourth line.
Defenseman Shea Theodore was also activated off IR on Monday after being out with a sore throat. However, he was not in the lineup and missed his fifth straight game. Theodore and Brad Hunt were the team’s healthy scratches.
Victory lap
The USA women’s hockey team, which captured the gold medal at the Winter Olympics last week, was honored at Monday’s Knights-Kings game at Staples Center. They’ll also be honored Saturday at the NHL Stadium Series outdoor game at Annapolis, Maryland between the Washington Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Contact Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow @stevecarprj on Twitter.
