Ted Kulfan

The Detroit News

Detroit — Jimmy Howard will get the start in net tonight when the Red Wings host the Minnesota Wild.

Petr Mrazek clearly won the starting job with a superior January and February, relegating Howard to spot duty those two months.

In March, Marzek began to struggle while Howard has regained his footing and offers coach Jeff Blashill more dependability at this point.

So with the Red Wings facing one of their biggest games of the season — out of the playoff picture and in need of a victory — Howard gets the call.

“I have a lot of belief in his character and the work he put in,” said Blashill of Howard, who won his last start, Monday’s 3-2 win over Buffalo.

Howard relieved Mrazek in the first period of Tuesday’s 4-3 loss in Montreal with Howard allowing two third-period goals that resulted in Montreal’s comeback victory.

Blashill appreciated the approach Howard took when he wasn’t playing.

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“Whether he was struggling or the team was struggling in front of him, he went to work and made sure he earned confidence by putting the work in,” Blashill said. “Earned confidence comes from you’ve done the work to succeed and have the skill set to succeed.

“Nobody has wavered on the skill set side and he’s put the work in. He was ready when got his opportunities.”

Blashill wouldn’t go into who is starting Saturday in Toronto, but sounded as if Mrazek would be ready if Blashill decided to go that way.

“From Petr’s perspective, he put tons of work in this morning and getting himself to where if you put work in and feel good about yourself walking off the ice — and if you walk off the ice feeling good about yourself, the better chance you’ll have to be successful.”

Ice chips

Blashill didn’t speculate as to the rest of the lineup, although it appeared defenseman Brendan Smith and forwards Tomas Jurco and Teemu Pulkkinen would remain healthy scratches.

… Anthony Mantha was likely to start on a line with Luke Glendening and Andreas Athanasiou, while Brad Richards took Mantha’s spot on Pavel Datsyuk’s line.

“When he (Mantha) came up, we wanted to put him in a position where he was playing with Pavel and there still is a good chance he’ll be positions where he’ll play with Pavel throughout the game,” Blashill said. “AA and Mantha have real good chemistry together, they’ve been real good linemates for me last year (in Grand Rapids). Having Glennie in the middle of that line, if they play together, gives them a real trust factor for my end.

“We’re just looking for the right mix to give us the best chance to win.”

ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com



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