RALEIGH, N.C. — Jimmy Howard worked out with his goalie coach, then milled about as the Detroit Red Wings practiced.

Howard anticipates being able to rejoin teammates on the ice as soon as Thursday. That’s a big relief for him and the team after he was in so much pain the Wings had to find an emergency goaltender Tuesday night.

Howard said Wednesday he felt “surprisingly really well. I was able to get treatment last night after my back locked up and then again this morning, and everything cleared and released. I skated for 18-20 minutes before the guys got out there, didn’t have any issues, so hopefully I don’t have any more and I’m good to go tomorrow for the pre-game skate.”

Jonathan Bernier is scheduled to start at Carolina, and unless Howard wakes up Thursday in pain, he’s expected to back up.

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Howard was supposed to start Tuesday at Philadelphia, but during warmups, “one of my joints locked up,” he said. “It was a huge relief they were able to release it last night because I probably wouldn’t have been able to do much this morning because my back probably still would have been in spasms.”

When a visiting team isn’t able to get one of its own goaltenders to a game on time, protocol is to use the emergency goaltender at the arena. At Wells Fargo Center, that turned out to be Justin Kowalkoksi, a geologist and beer-league goaltender. He was not allowed in the Wings’ dressing room.

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Turns out, the Wings had a volunteer ready in their own ranks.

“I was actually ready to strap them on if needed,” forward Andreas Athanasiou said, smiling. “Back when I played in the OHL we had our rookie camp after the draft and I actually went and played goalie, in the games and practices. I was pretty decent.

“I loved playing goalie as a kid. It was fun to do.”

During his days with the Barrie Colts, Athanasiou and then-teammate Mark Scheifele (now with the Winnipeg Jets) would play man the nets at an outdoor rink.

“I always liked being the goalie,” Athanasiou said. “He was pretty good, too.”

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