DETROIT -- Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard, who has played every game this season, got a breather from practice on Wednesday, and coach Mike Babcock said he hasn't decided who will start in net Thursday in St. Louis (8 p.m., Fox Sports Detroit).

His only choices are Howard or rookie Petr Mrazek. Joey MacDonald (back) has been practicing for several days but hasn't been cleared to play. Jonas Gustavsson (groin) has skated on his own the past couple of days but would need a couple of full practices with the team before being able to play.

It would seem unlikely that Babcock would have Mrazek make his NHL debut in St. Louis, where the Red Wings lost 6-0 in their season opener on Jan. 19, but he said he's considering it.

“I always do that (decide on goalie) on the flight over,'' Babcock said. "I haven't got to it. So we'll decide what we're doing, and the same for the weekend. I'll talk to Howie, see how he's doing and then go from there.''

He added, “Obviously, (Howard) has been getting too much (work). He's played great for us, but we're giving up too much the last couple (games), so get him freshened up.''

Babcock also reiterated that he hasn't decided on his goaltending plans for the weekend home games, Saturday vs. Edmonton and Sunday vs. Los Angeles.

"We're just going to go day-to-day and make my decision tomorrow on who's starting tomorrow and the same thing every day after that,'' he said.

MacDonald, who hasn't played since March 14, 2012, said he will see a back specialist on Friday, and if all goes well, he should be cleared. He believes he could be ready to play for the Red Wings on Saturday, if all goes well.

Asked if he would be hesitant to use MacDonald this weekend, Babcock said, “No, if he's cleared, I wouldn't be (hesitant) at all. Howie can't play every night.''

Wednesday was the first time MacDonald had a net to himself in practice.

“There’s no pain sliding side-to-side like I had before, so I think it’s just getting back with the timing and stuff.'' MacDonald said. "Just waiting to get in there, and the way it is, Howie’s been riding it for a while and in a short season it's tough to do, so he needs a break.”

Asked about a possible conditioning stint with the Grand Rapids Griffins, MacDonald said, “It was mentioned, but it as mentioned for playing today in Grand Rapids. So that's not going to happen, so who knows now? I know they’re on the road to Oklahoma (this weekend) and I won’t be going there. But we (the Red Wings) have a lot of games coming up, so somebody has to be ready to jump in there.”

Gustavsson, who hasn't dressed for a game since Jan. 21, skated on his own before practice the last couple of days and called it a step in the right direction.

He will travel with the team to St. Louis, just to practice. He isn't sure when he'll be ready to play.

“First of all I got to be back to where I can do a full practice, and maybe a couple in a row, and then after that it's just a matter of when you're ready to play,'' Gustavsson said. "It's really tough to speculate how many days from now that's going to be. I feel positive today.''

Babcock said he'll go with the same lineup Thursday that he used in Tuesday's 4-1 loss to Calgary, with the possible exception of the starting goalie. He said he'll start the game with Tomas Tatar on the third line.

Here are the lines they skated with in practice Wednesday:

Johan Franzen-Henrik Zetterberg-Damien Brunner

Valtteri Filppula-Pavel Datsyuk-Todd Bertuzzi

Daniel Cleary-Justin Abdelakder-Tomas Tatar

Drew Miller-Cory Emmerton-Jordin Tootoo

Also: Patrick Eaves, Jan Mursak

Niklas Kronwall-Brian Lashoff

Kyle Quincey-Jonathan Ericsson

Kent Huskins-Ian White

Also: Jakub KIndl

Petr Mrazek

Joey MacDonald

Right wing Mikael Samuelsson, out since Jan. 22 with a groin injury, joined the team on the ice near the end of practice. He has skated by himself the past four days and hopes to being practicing soon.

“Can't rush just it. I've done that in the past and it doesn't work,'' Samuelsson said. “You come here, you really want to perform. I shouldn't say I rushed it (before), but I really wanted to play right off the get-go and show what I can do.''