Detroit Red Wings: Grading the goaltenders 2019-20 performances

Jimmy Howard, Grade: F

Looking at the Detroit Red Wings 2019-20 season, the easiest way to describe Howard’s season is atrocious. In the first contest of the season against the Nashville Predators, Howard would record the win stopping thirty-nine shots, allowing three goals on forty-two attempts. That was on October 5th, 2019.

Twenty-four days later, he would record a thirty-one save win, allowing one goal against the Edmonton Oilers. Since October 29th, 2019, the Red Wings have not won a game when Jimmy Howard was in the net.

The fall-off from Jimmy Howard has been incredible, his worst statistical season in all fourteen of his seasons. In 2019-20, Howard made twenty-seven starts where he had a 2-23-2 record with a .882 save percentage (SV%) and a 4.20 goals-against average (GAA) while managing to get pulled from six starts with more than ten minutes remaining in the game.

After fourteen seasons as a Red Wings netminder, it seems that Howard’s run is coming to an end. He did sustain an injury around Thanksgiving, and Howard would spend some time on the injured reserve, this is when Bernier vaulted himself as the starter. This year is not one to remember, and it may be the last time fans see Howard in a Red Wings uniform.

After this season concludes, whenever that may be, Howard is an unrestricted free agent, and it is time for the Howard era to come to an end sadly. With the season being paused and most likely done with, at least the regular season, it seems like Howard has donned the winged-wheel jersey one last time.

In what could be his final start with the Red Wings, Howard allowed five goals on seventeen shots and was pulled just after the twelve-minute mark in the second period. With that being said, Howard is not the all-star goalie he was in the past, and his time in Motown may be over, but one thing is for sure, the 2019-20 season was worth nothing but an “F” grade.