Aethernum

I disagree with Mickey. Playing timid hasn't worked all game (or all month, really). We have a chance to effectively knock Ottawa out of the playoffs tonight, if we win in regulation. Go for it.

The last time Howard had a bad game, Babs gave him another shot (which he blew) before turning to Mrazek. He's giving the same courtesy to Petr. One bad game? Try again, see what happens. Two? Make a switch.

"I think he's a fraud!" Shots fired!

On the bright side, Nyquist looked great on the 4v4. Energized, aggressive. Hopefully he was just winded by that hit earlier and is alright now.

Make-up call for the double-minor penalty earlier? Even Mickey couldn't come up with a reason for the holding call. I'll take it - go PP! Edit: Oh Christ, Z...bad penalty.

THERE WE GO BOYS! Some life, at last!

I'm not concerned about the Wings' slow start today. They saw a well-liked teammate go down with what initially looked like it could have been a career-ending injury (imagine if the skate had cut his eye). That shakes up even the coolest of heads. Once they see him healthy - hopefully in the locker room right now - they should, hopefully, step it up.

Four games. Sixteen goals. One win. I think we know what the problem is. And it doesn't matter whose name you attach to it. Mrazek and Howard both are costing this team crucial points when it counts most. We'll be lucky if Ottawa and Boston lose tonight.

Good to see them show a little fire...now direct that into shooting the puck, not at the officials. Bad call, though.

I think it was in the same interview where he named Mrazek the starter for Tampa that Babcock said he wants his team to show more patience when playing from behind. Said people need to stop trying to be supermen on every shift. I think that approach is what you're seeing here. This game has no lack of chances, and we'll get the bounce we need. Babcock knows this. I trust him.

Erm...

Which isn't to say a Vezina/Hart trophy soon-to-be-winner should be the standard, obviously. I just mean that this team is skilled enough to win it all, but they're inconsistent. And so if we just had That Guy to bail us out when we absolutely needed it, there'd be no stopping us.

Just curious - is there precedent for a coach pulling a goalie for the backup, then pulling the backup (not because of injury) for the starter again? Not that I want that to happen here, I just want to know.

Ken D is right. This was Mrazek's shot at the job and he blew it. I expect that we're stuck with Howard going forward into the playoffs. With elite goaltender play, this team is an instant contender. Can we just combine Howard's experience/mobility with Mrazek's guts/mental game and have one DECENT goalie, rather than two slices of swiss cheese? If this team had a Carey Price-like guy between the pipes we'd have locked up the President's Trophy by now. Forget about a lockdown D-man; goalie is our missing piece. OH MY CHRIST BOYS COME ON!

So I decided to make myself dinner before switching on the game. CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN!? Also: LOL at the not-so-subtle dig as college basketball by the MSG+ announcers. "If you decided to watch this instead of March Madness, you're in luck! You'll probably see more points scored here." Ouch.