When it comes to goaltending, the theory has always been that three into two nets won’t work, but for the time being the Detroit Red Wings will buck that trend.
All three goalies on the Detroit roster – Jonas Gustavsson, Jimmy Howard and Petr Mrazek – took turns stopping pucks at practice Friday and that’s the way it will be for the foreseeable future.
“Yeah, it’s just day to day,… Detroit coach Mike Babcock said of the club’s goalie situation. “Howie’s starting (Saturday against Winnipeg).…
Meanwhile, Mrazek will back him up, meaning Gustavsson will be a healthy scratch for the second straight game.
While it was expected he’d be reassigned to AHL Grand Rapids once Howard returned from a groin injury, the Wings have yet to decide what Mrazek’s long-term future holds.
“I think he’s got to play for sure but let’s just get our goaltending situation sorted out here and then we’ll decide what we’re going to do,… Babcock said.
Hungry Howie Howard saw game action for the first time since Jan. 10 when he relieved Mrazek for the third period of Wednesday’s 4-1 loss at Pittsburgh and he’s anxious to get a full 60 minutes under his belt.
“I can’t wait to get back out there tomorrow night,… Howard said. “Until you get in there and you get a taste of the speed again, you sort of forget what it’s like, so it was good. I just treated it like a practice.…
Game situations are vastly different for a goalie than practice time.
“Just tracking the puck, I find, is the biggest thing,… Howard said of shaking off the rink rust. “Going from practice and feeling good in practice and then all of a sudden there are 10 guys out there in front of you, so that’s the biggest thing.
“Coach has done quite a few battle drills here this week with guys in front of me, whether it’s penalty kill or power play or five-on-five situations, so I treated those as a game-like situation.…
Oh For Two The Wings and Nashville Predators are the only NHL teams yet to go two consecutive games without collecting a point, so the pressure is on Detroit to keep that going as the Wings play host to the Jets at Joe Louis Arena.
“It seems like you drop a game one night and everyone around you wins,… Howard said. “So we’ve got to find away right from the get-go here tomorrow night and get on top of them because they’re a fast, physical team that likes to get in on the forecheck.…
Easier Road Mrazek believes in some ways, it’s less difficult to be an NHLer than it is to toil at the AHL level and not just because of the significant bump in salary.
For example, road trips are always first class.
“You travel a lot in the American Hockey League as well, but it’s lots of spending time on the bus,… Mrazek said. “It’s different there than here for sure, because we fly here everywhere.
“I would say it’s a little easier here because you don’t spend much time on the bus and so if you want to go to sleep, you sleep.…
Better Than Expected While he knew defenseman Danny DeKeyser would play in the NHL, Babcock admitted that he didn’t think he’d be this good this quickly.
“I just thought he was going to be a defender,… Babcock said when they signed DeKeyser as a free agent two years ago out of Western Michigan. “I thought he was a really good skater with a good stick and I thought he’d be a 5-6 defender, but he’s way beyond that.
“He’s outstanding. He’s a very, very high-end player defensively and getting the puck going. He’s still got to work on the offensive side of his game, sliding on the blue line, but he’s a gifted, gifted player.…
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