Mike Babcock says he knows who his playoff goalie will be and the Detroit Red Wings coach added that Petr Mrazek’s shutout performance in the season finale, a 2-0 victory Saturday at Carolina over the Hurricanes, had no bearing on his decision.
“I’ve already decided but what I’ll do is share that with you on Monday,… Babcock told reporters after the game, adding that his mind was made up before his team took the ice Saturday.
“I pretty much knew what I was doing. Every day in our business confirms something or gets you to change your mind.
“Obviously we’ll talk about that on Monday.…
If in his view Mrazek looked upon Saturday’s game as a referendum on whether he was up to the task of taking the net for what would be his Stanley Cup debut, then he stated his case with flying colors, making 35 saves for his third shutout of the season and fifth of his brief NHL career.
“I felt great,… Mrazek said. “Like I said in the morning I had had three games where the puck goes in, so that was huge for me to get back with the win.…
As to whether he’d made a case to start in the playoffs, Mrazek wasn’t about to play that game.
“That is not a question for me,… Mrazek said. “I said it’s day by day, game by game and the season is over.
“We’ll see what happens.…
Detroit’s players weren’t about to enter into the debate, either.
“I think Petr has done a good job,… forward Daniel Cleary said. “I thought Jimmy Howard has played great for us too.
“We have two capable goalies and that’s a good thing.…
There’s no question that Mrazek possesses the ability to be an elite NHL puckstopper. In Mrazek’s last six wins he has a .982 save percentage (172 of 175 shots stopped) three shutouts and a 0.50 goals-against average:
April 11 – at Carolina 2-0, 35 saves March 28 – Tampa Bay 4-0, 23 saves March 15 – at Pittsburgh 5-1, 43 shots, 42 saves Feb. 7 – at Arizona 3-1, 23 shots, 22 saves Feb. 5 – at Colorado 3-0, 28 saves Jan. 31 – NY Islanders 4-1, 23 shots, 22 saves
During that span there were also three games from which Mrazek was pulled, so while he certainly has the moxie and confidence to be Detroit’s go-to goalie, there are also technical issues with the 23-year-old netminder that make it a roll of the dice to go with him over the more experienced, albeit struggling Howard.
“Nothing changed,… Mrazek said of the games where it hasn’t gone his way. “Everything the same.
“Just sometimes the puck goes in the way you don’t want it to.…
Alexey’s In At least one Detroit rookie looks like he’ll be in the Wings’ playoff opener against the Tampa Bay Lightning, a series that is likely to begin Thursday in Tampa.
Babcock confirmed after Saturday’s game that defenseman Alexey Marchenko, called up from AHL Grand Rapids for Saturday’s regular-season finale to play in place of Brendan Smith, would get the call for Game 1.
“Yeah,… Babcock said. “He’s big and smart and makes good plays.
“He doesn’t make tons of mistakes.…
Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg was also impressed with Marchenko’s performance.
“He’s solid,… Zetterberg said. “We saw that when he was up here before. Obviously he got the (core) injury and he went down and played good in Grand Rapids.
“It was good to see him up again and I think he played pretty good.…
Even with the apparent votes of confidence from his coach and captain, Marchenko wasn’t about to take anything for granted.
“For me every game is big,… Marchenko said. “Every time you hit the ice in the NHL you get something from the game. They speed up the game, you try to adjust to it.
“I try to be better every game, help the team, learn how to communicate with your partner. So every game is big for me.…
Landon Lands One Though he’s less certain of his immediate future, forward Landon Ferraro had plenty to celebrate when he scored the eventual winner on a wrap around on the game’s first shift, which was also Ferraro’s first NHL goal.
“I just wanted to get it to the net,… Ferraro said. “I don’t think I’ve scored on a wrap around in like three years.
“For me, especially since it’s my third game this year, I just wanted to get it to the net, get a rebound chance. Then I saw it against the back (of the net) and I got a little excited after that.…
Ferraro admitted he pondered the thought of netting his first NHL goal as he prepared for what could very well be his last game in a Detroit uniform this season.
“I haven’t played – this was just my seventh game in the league over two years – I was just thinking to myself tonight I just really wanted to get it in or it would be a long off-season of waiting for another chance at it,… Ferraro said.
“So I was really happy to get it out of the way early tonight and get the win through the rest of the night.…
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