Helene St. James

Detroit Free Press

Petr Mrazek appears to be righting himself just in time to help the Detroit Red Wings, maybe in more ways than one.

His numbers headed into Sunday’s game against the New York Rangers do not impress, but his last few performances have indicated he has made significant progress in working himself out of a first-half funk.

“I think he has trended in the right direction for a number of games, and even games where he has given up more goals than he wants to and we want him to, I think he's still played real well,” coach Jeff Blashill said after Mrazek made 34 saves in Friday's 3-2 overtime loss at Buffalo.

“He looks like he is on top of his game. He’s got a swagger. He’s on top of the crease, he’s making lots of good plays. I think he is certainly trending inn the right direction.”

Mrazek looked especially good against the Sabres facing 28 shots the first two periods.

“That's quite a bit of shots against,” defenseman Danny DeKeyser said. “Petr played really well. I thought he was making big saves, and the easy saves when he had to. He was playing the puck well, stopping rims around the back of the net. He looked good and hopefully he grows off of that performance.”

The two biggest reasons the Wings are on the outside of the playoff picture after fall on mediocre goaltending from Mrazek and an inept power play. Mrazek stole two points for the Wings back in October when they played at St. Louis, but then came such a tumultuous stretch his numbers show sit at a 3.13 goals-against average and .895 save percentage. He got no help from teammates, however, in the Jan. 12 game at Dallas, after which he was relegated to backing up Jared Coreau for two games. When Mrazek replaced Coreau midway through the farce that was the first period of the Boston game, Mrazek made 23 saves to help the Wings to victory.

Mrazek himself has said he feels better than his numbers indicate, acknowledging a recent uptick in performance.

“If you look at last five, six games, I think I get better overall,” he said. “You are trying to build every game, you are trying to build confidence and play as best you can. Stay positive, work hard. Those pucks are going to hit you, one day. I hope.”

The Wings re-signed Mrazek last summer for two years, $8 million, simultaneously declaring him their starter. Then the season began, and Jimmy Howard played so much better he had grabbed the starting reins twice by the time he suffered a sprained knee Dec. 20 (he missed two weeks after a groin injury Nov. 25). Howard won’t be back until after the All-Star break. When he does come back, he likely will be sent to Grand Rapids to get in a conditioning game before returning to NHL action.



If Mrazek, who turns 25 in February, has a hold on the starting job by then, good for him and good for the Wings. The thinking within the club is that Coreau is ready for the NHL full-time, and he may well end up being the goalie the Wings protect in the expansion draft this summer. If Mrazek gets on a roll – remember last year around this time, he was playing so well that by mid-February he’d generated a .933 save percentage and 1.94 goals-against average that both ranked first among NHL goaltenders who’d have played at least 25 games – then maybe the Wings are in the playoff picture when their bye week arrives. That, conveniently enough, falls Feb. 22-26, meaning the Wings will know a week before the March 1 trade deadline whether they have a realistic chance of making the playoffs, or whether they will be sellers.

If it is the latter, don’t be surprised to see Mrazek in play. It's what makes sense, as Coreau has impressed better than his numbers (3.04 GAA, .901 save percentage) and Howard (1.96 GAA, .934 save percentage) has played the best hockey of his career. Coreau is young (25) and cheap (signed through 2017-18 with a cap hit of just $612,500). Howard turns 33 in March, and would be hard to move with two more seasons at a cap hit of $5.3 million. If Mrazek gets playing, he either helps the Wings into the playoffs, or helps increase his trade value. Either way would be going in the right direction.

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.