Mrazek Named Game One Starter for Detroit Red Wings, Shouldn’t Worry You the Most
Mar 26, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek (34) watches the puck against the San Jose Sharks during the second period at Joe Louis Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Well the starting goaltender for the Detroit Red Wings in game one was announced, and it may have surprised you and many others.
Babcock makes it official: Mrazek starting game 1
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) April 13, 2015
Petr Mrazek, the 23 year-old Czech who has never played in the NHL playoffs, will be starting in game one of the series against the Tampa Bay Lightning which starts Thursday. This move by Babcock, should not worry you, well it shouldn’t be your biggest worry going into the playoff series. The team in front of the goaltender is far more what you should be worried about at this point.
The players in front of the goaltender is far more what you should be worried about as the Red Wings take on the Lightning. This is a team that has had great goal tending performances from both Jimmy Howard and Mrazek and then lost because bad defense or honestly just bad playing. Look at the March 31st game against the Ottawa Senators, it was a Red Wings 2-1 loss.
Detroit Red Wings
In this game Mrazek made 33 saves in the game that ended up going into a shoot out. All game Mrazek had gotten the Red Wings out of jams nonstop throughout the game. The Senators were on the power play five times in the second, each time they ended up out of luck thanks to the great play of Mrazek. Yet bad plays by skaters caused the game to go into a shootout, which the team lost 2-1. A great game by the young goal tender and it ends in a loss for the Red Wings against a team they were supposed to beat.
This team down the stretch has looked nowhere near as good as they did at the start of the season. A difficult month of March hurt the team in points collected and hurt them with players lost. Erik Cole who was the replacement for Johan Franzen, is now lost for the season and the team now has to find someone to fill in that spot which means a change-up in lines and put the Red Wings in a tough spot.
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The month of March saw the Red Wings picked up 9 losses and they only picked up 5 wins. While the Red Wings did pick up some big wins against good teams such as the New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues and the Tampa Bay Lightning. They would drop games against teams they shouldn’t have, such as the 7-2 loss against the Philadelphia Flyers. A 5-4 OT loss to the Phoenix Coyotes, then followed by a 6-4 loss to the San Jose Sharks. Losses that really shouldn’t have been losses to the Red Wings, none of those teams made the playoffs. The Coyotes are one of the worst teams in the league, you are a 3rd seed in the playoffs, those are just bad losses.
This team could possibly be without Justin Abdelkader in their first game. They are going into game one with a questionable Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk, two big scorers that the team needs, aren’t fully healthy and you can see that when they play. They are still good players, but while the Lightning are an inexperienced playoff team, they are also a young rough and tough team that has a Steven Stamkos who can just score like crazy, a Ben Bishop in net who has had a good season, this team is young but a very good team.
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The Red Wings have a lot more problems at the moment than who is starting in net. Yes it may not make a lot of sense that a 23-year-old in basically his rookie season is starting over the season veteran, but understand that this kid can play good hockey, but he needs the good hockey played in front of him as well. So don’t worry about Mrazek, worry about the players in front of him.
What are your biggest worries for the Red Wings as they head into the playoffs against the Lightning? Is your only concern the goal tender situation? Let us know below and don’t forget to stay connected to Detroit Jock City for all your Red Wings news as the NHL Playoff start Wednesday. Want to try your luck at the NHL Playoff bracket challenge against DJC staff and readers? Well why don’t you fill out a bracket here.