DETROIT -- His teammates were fast to fall on the sword for Jimmy Howard on Sunday, but the rookie goaltender, in no uncertain terms, said he must raise his game.



Howard was not happy with his performance in the 4-2 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes in Game 3 at Joe Louis Arena.



"I would say (I) allowed three untimely goals -- first minute (of the game), last minute of the second period and then that fourth one when we sort of had the momentum in the third period," Howard said. "I just have to refocus and get out there and have a good practice (Monday). Forget about it and improve my performance (Tuesday in Game 4)."



That will be the biggest test of Howard's young career. One of Chris Osgood's strengths was his ability to bounce back from a bad night, and Howard continues to lean on the veteran.



"Chris gave me a couple words of wisdom,'' Howard said. "I'm grateful for that. Just forget about it. Go home and don't think about hockey at all.''

Coach Mike Babcock said he is not considering a goalie change.

"Never thought about it at all,'' Babcock said.



Howard didn't have the angle covered on Radim Vrbata's goal at 11:38 of the third period, which sapped Detroit's momentum after Johan Franzen had cut the Coyotes' lead to 3-2 at 9:59.



But Howard's teammates said they let him down on the other goals, with turnovers and defensive lapses.



"We let him out to dry on a couple of occasions, where you want to do a better job helping him out, clearing guys out of there or getting rebounds out of there,'' Nicklas Lidstrom said. "They were shooting the puck a lot more, going to the net a little bit harder.''



Howard, who is 1-2 with a 3.71 goals-against average and .889 save percentage, knows he must step up for his team to come back in the series.



"The pace out there is definitely quicker from the regular season,'' Howard said. "I have to keep battling. I have to find a way to respond.''



Bertuzzi puzzled by call

The Red Wings thought they had cut Phoenix's lead to 4-3 with 3:02 to play in the third period when Todd Bertuzzi jammed the puck into the net while goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov had it smothered on the ice with his glove.



But referee Bill McCreary waved it off.



"He just said you can't push the goaltender, but the puck was sitting there loose,'' Bertuzzi said. "He's on a tough angle, being on the goal line, can't see that it's loose. So even though it was in, and then the whistle went, he said you can't have contact with the goaltender's feet, which is somewhat news to me.''



Babcock said the call had no bearing on the outcome of the game.



Doan out longer?

Coyotes coach Dave Tippett revealed no details on Shane Doan's injury or his status for Game 4. Doan left two minutes into the second period after tripping over Howard and crashing his right shoulder into the boards.



"I didn't even know it was him,'' Howard said. "I was just covering because I could see a Phoenix guy coming out of the corner of my eye.''



Said Phoenix defenseman Ed Jovanovski: "It's tough losing a guy playing 20 minutes as a forward. It gave opportunities to step up and everyone responded well to it.''



Odds & ends

Lidstrom, on what his team needs to do differently: "They're playing real well in the neutral zone. Sometimes you have to lay the puck in. It's difficult to stick-handle your way through two or three guys. Lay it in and get a good forecheck on them.'' ... Lidstrom, on his team's power play, which went 1 for 5: "Their forwards are in good positions, pushing us to the outside. They're in shooting lanes. When we get stationary, it works to their advantage. On a couple of occasions we were standing still instead of having motion.'' ... Detroit's Tomas Holmstrom played in his 155th playoff game, moving him past Gordie Howe into seventh place on the franchise's career list. Holmstrom trails Lidstrom (238), Kris Draper (203), Steve Yzerman (196), Kirk Maltby (169), Darren McCarty (167) and Sergei Fedorov (162). ... Former Red Wings center Robert Lang returned to the lineup for Phoenix, replacing the injured Vernon Fiddler, but played only 6:58. Lang had missed the final 17 games of the season and the first two games of this series with a lower-body injury.

