Red Wings turn to Petr Mrazek for Game 3 start
The Detroit Red Wings head home for Game 3 Sunday night facing the prospect of falling behind 3-0 in their series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
With that obstacle ahead, Jeff Blashill has decided to go a different direction in goal replacing Jimmy Howard with Petr Mrazek.
According to Howard, via our old pal Nick Cotsonika, Blashill told him about the switch when they got on the team plane to fly home after Game 2.
Mrazek, who last started on March 29, owned the No. 1 gig earlier this season and played his way into the mid-season Vezina Trophy discussion. But a March to forget allowed Howard to win back the job and help the Red Wings clinch a playoff berth in the final week of the regular season.
In two appearances against the Lightning this season, Mrazek allowed six goals on 41 shots in a pair of losses. But it was last postseason when the 24-year-old netminder helped the Red Wings push Tampa to a seventh and deciding game in Round 1.
Hoping Mrazek can rekindle his early season magic is one thing, but whoever is in the Red Wings net won’t matter if Detroit cannot find a way to stop the line of Alex Killorn, Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov. The trio have combined to score seven of Tampa’s eight goals in the series.
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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy
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