|
A Chance To Be Crowned Again |
|
|
|
|
|
Third-time lucky?
The Detroit Red Wings intend to find out.
The Wings will give goaltender Jared Coreau his third start of the season Thursday night at the site of his greatest NHL triumph, the Staples Center, where the Wings, in an 0-6-1 skid, face the Los Angeles Kings.
“I think it just goes hand in hand with being comfortable, playing here before, but they’re a good team again this year, so it’ll be interesting to see how the game goes,” Coreau told Detroitredwings.com. “I may have to weather a storm on the road.”
Coreau beat the Kings there on Jan. 5, 2017, making 34 saves for his first NHL shutout.
“Being my first shutout in the NHL, it was pretty exciting but at the end of the day there’s 14 games left, we need as many wins as possible,” Coreau said. “Whether it’s a shutout or whatever, as long as we score more, it’s good.”
Coreau is 0-1 in two starts with a 5.19 goals-against average and .865 save percentage since he was recalled Feb. 20 to replace the traded Petr Mrazek. A pending unrestricted free agent, Coreau has the rest of the season to convince the Wings that he’s the long-term answer to serve as Jimmy Howard’s back-up.
While the numbers certainly would indicate that the process isn’t going well - he was chased in the second period of his first start in Boston after surrendering four goals - the Wings begged to differ.
“I think he’s looked good,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “I thought he looked good his last outing. He’s just got to keep building off of it.
“I just think when Jared plays his best hockey he’s big, he uses his size effectively, and doesn’t over-move.”
Coreau made 33 saves in his most recent start, a 3-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, and thinks that performance has pointed him back in the right direction after the shaky outing at Boston.
“I felt pretty good,” Coreau said. “We can look at some of the goals and maybe on one of them do something different to make one of those saves and then we can tie the game instead of still being down by one when we score that second one. You can split atoms all day, but at the end of the day it’s just good, quality starts, giving the team a chance to win. I believe I did that the last game.
“That’s just the goal every night, give the team a chance to win. Sometimes it’s going to come down to the dying seconds, sometimes it’s just going to be preserving a two- or three-goal lead. It’s just making the big save when you need to make a big save.”
Follow me on Twitter @asktheduffer
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»