Sharp: Mrazek 'saved' Wings in Game 1 but isn't savior

TAMPA – The degree of thievery's debatable. But there's no disputing how tall rookie goalie Petr Mrazek stood in net Thursday.

"He saved us," said Henrik Zetterberg. "Without him, there's no telling how this might have looked."

It wouldn't have been pretty. The Detroit Red Wings surrendered 46 shots on goal and took seven penalties in their first round series opener against Tampa Bay. That's normally a statistical confluence pointed toward disaster. But Mrazek validated Mike Babcock's confidence in him, turning away 44 shots and leaving Tampa Bay players with shaking heads wondering how they lost 3-2 despite having the ice dramatically tipped in their favor throughout the game.

"Give them credit," said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. "The kid played great."

Happily lost in the moment of his first NHL playoff victory, Mrazek didn't even realize that he wore a Grand Rapids Griffins' T-shirt underneath his equipment. It wasn't a superstitious thing. He simply didn't have another available shirt.

"Maybe I should keep wearing this now?" he said.

Mrazek said that – given the choice – he would've preferred exactly what the Lightning threw at him Thursday night. Their puck-possessing dominance kept Mrazek more fully engaged. He gave up a shorthanded goal and another off a screened shot.

"It was fun," he said. "You look at the number of shots that they took but I thought our defense did a good job of making sure that I saw the shots coming at me. They're a very good offensive team and they kept putting a lot of pressure on us. It might not have looked good, but we got the win and that's all matters. We took the first game of the series."

And it shouldn't be forgotten that at this same time a year ago, the Wings stole a first round series opener at Boston. Pavel Datsyuk was the offensive star in that game as well, a 1-0 win against the Bruins. Jimmy Howard was masterful in net, stealing a win that nobody expected and teasing optimism with thoughts that the eighth-seeded Wings might snatch a series away from the heavily favored Bruins.

Detroit lost the next four games and the season was over.

That's why it's ridiculously premature holding a coronation for Mrazek as the franchise's savior after just one game, regardless of how well he played. It was an excellent start, but nobody can honestly say they bore witness Thursday night at Amalie Arena to the birth of the next quintessential "hot playoff goalie."

"It wasn't the way that I would've drawn it up," said Babcock. "But it was a win and that's all that matters."

The Wings only threw 14 shots at Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop.

But they made them count.

The Wings' first shot on goal didn't come until nearly midway through the first period. Kyle Quincey kept the puck in the Wings' offensive zone, firing it on net. Datsyuk deflected it past Bishop for the game's first goal. It was no doubt demoralizing for Tampa Bay. It dominated the pace of play in the opening period, regularly applying pressure on Mrazek. But the rookie's only blemish was a shorthanded goal when Brian Boyle stole the puck in the Tampa Bay's defensive zone and raced down the ice, deking Mrazek toward the wide set of the net and burying it for the game-tying goal.

And that became the test for the rookie goalie.

How would he respond?

"You don't want to put yourself in a position where your goaltending has to constantly bail you out," said Zetterberg. "We have to do a better job of creating more (scoring) opportunities and staying out of the (penalty box) more than we did. But Pete played great. It's hard believing that this was his first (NHL) playoff game."

Mrazek didn't look like a novice. If there was any fear within him, it wasn't noticeable.

"It's just the first game," he said. "We're happy that we got the win, but (Tampa Bay) is a very good team. This is going to be a long series."

And the longer it goes, the greater the importance of strong goaltending. Mrazek easily got the better of Bishop in Game 1. Score one for the rookie. But the Wings must do a better job of cleaning up the glaring mistakes that placed even more pressure than necessary on the rookie.

Contact Drew Sharp: dsharp@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @drewsharp.