Jimmy Howard Out, Petr Mrazek In After Disappointing Loss
By Tony Fischer
The Red Wings got lucky. Funny thing to say after a 6-4 loss to a Western Conference team well out of the playoff hunt but true. The loss to the ugly loss to the San Jose Sharks was bad enough but was made less severe by Boston and Ottawa’s inability to capitalize on the Wings misfortune.
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Although Red Wings maintain their narrow lead in the Eastern Conference playoff race, at some point the luck is going to run out. The Wings can make their own luck by playing better as a team something the Henrik Zetterberg noted during his post game interview with Fox Sports Detroit.
"We are trying to hard, Zetterberg said, instead of waiting for the right moment we are forcing things."
As for goaltender Jimmy Howard, the Captain said the problem belongs to the team not just one position.
"It’s not on Howie or Petr, it’s on all of us. We have to play better defense."
Mike Babcock disagreed. In his post game interview he put the blame squarely on the shoulders of Jimmy Howard.
"When you are playing from behind every shift is an emergency and that causes turnovers…we have to keep the puck out of our net. Petr will get a chance now."
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When asked if he had a number one goaltender, Babcock responded: “Well I am starting Mrazek on Saturday.”
Not to defend Jimmy Howard here but the Red Wings are playing terrible team hockey. Turnovers, errant passes, odd man rushes and porous defense have marred the last couple of losses for the Wings and if they don’t fix that it won’t matter who is minding the net.
That said Jimmy Howard’s play has been awful. The Sharks scored on their first shot on goal and it came off a wrister from the blue line. It didn’t get any better as the Sharks needed just nine shots to score three goals. Howard was pulled in favor of Mrazek. Normally a veteran goaltender would be given time to play out of a slump. But with the playoff race tightening and the postseason looming time is not a luxury the Wings can afford. Thus the 22-year-old Mrazek will get a chance to become the Wings number one goaltender.
Lets hope the move will inspire better team play.