Revolving door at goalie continues in Wings' 5-4 loss to Islanders
Jonas Gustavsson, you're on the clock.
After another goaltending bust in another worrisome loss Sunday, the Red Wings are desperate for some heroics in goal -- the kind Gustavsson provided this time last year, when he put the team on his back and carried them into the postseason.
Despite racing to a two-goal lead less than two minutes into the game, Detroit suffered a complete and total collapse from their goal crease out in a 5-4 loss to the slumping New York Islanders.
Petr Mrazek, who staked his claim as the Wings' No. 1 goalie the previous day by shutting out Tampa Bay, kept it for 20 minutes and 16 seconds. He was pulled after giving up his fourth goal on just 11 shots and was replaced by Jimmy Howard, who had been benched earlier in the week after allowing eight goals in back-to-back home losses to Arizona and San Jose.
Howard took the loss by allowing what proved to be a winning goal. It came on a failed Detroit power play when Tomas Tatar coughed up the puck at his own blue line, setting Cal Clutterbuck loose alone on a breakaway at 3:57 of the second period.
Gustavsson, the forgotten man in this recent goaltending tug-of-war, has missed the last 10 games because of a concussion. But he's been skating since midweek and recently said that he hopes to return to action soon.
Detroit's third loss in four games, combined with Boston's 2-1 overtime win Sunday at Carolina, enabled the Bruins to close within three points of the third-place Wings in the Atlantic Division. Ottawa, which lost visiting Florida on Sunday, remains six points back of Detroit.
Now it's about to get really interesting. Both teams zeroing in on the Wings will visit Joe Louis Arena this week: Ottawa on Tuesday and Boston on Thursday. By then, Detroit could have either a nice cushion in that third divisional spot that automatically qualifies it for the postseason, or be clinging for dear life to a wild-card spot with a handful of games remaining.
Tomas Tatar started a goal-barrage at both ends when he deposited a rebound into a yawning net just 39 seconds into the game for his 28th goal. And Drew Miller doubled Detroit's pleasure just 67 seconds later, chipping the puck over goalie Jaroslav Halak for his fifth goal of the season and 50th as a Red Wing.
But the Islanders, trying to end a seven-game home losing streak, responded with three goals in a five-minute span. Two of them were on power plays, and all were preventable with even average goaltending.
Niklas Kronwall's ninth goal of the season made it 3-3 before the game was 10 minutes old -- not the kind of wild, wide-open hockey either team welcomes with the playoffs starting in just two weeks.
"That first period," Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said, shaking his head, "we just scratch that from our memory and go from there ... After that, we played pretty solid, and it was a pretty even game."
Frans Nielsen's goal on a harmless shot, from a terrible angle, eluded Mrazek for the go-ahead goal. It was the third allowed by Detroit penalty killers, and Babcock had seen enough.
Mrazek got the hook, putting Howard back in net trying to re-stake his claim to the job. He stopped 15 of 16 shots, but the one that got by him -- the breakaway shorthander -- stood as the game-winner.
Pavel Datsyuk's 24th goal, on a Wings power play at 10:20 of the second period, closed the deficit to one goal. But Detroit couldn't score the equalizer despite pulling Howard from his net for an extra attacker for most of the last two minutes of the game.
Along with poor goaltending, the Wings' special teams shoulder the blame for this critical loss. Penalty killers, who were so good the day before -- snuffing all six Tampa Bay power plays and allowing only six shots while shorthanded -- gave up three goals in four chances on Sunday.
Worse, the power play -- wildly inconsistent and generally disappointing this month after leading the league all season -- gave up the winning goal.
"The penalty kill has to be better than that," Miller acknowledged after the game. "We made a couple of mistakes and they scored. It's something we have to look back on and learn from.
"But it's nothing to be worried about. We think our penalty killing is going pretty good right now."
INJURY REPORT
Forwards Erik Cole and Riley Sheahan missed the game because of upper body injuries.
Winger Johan Franzen missed his 40th straight game as he recovers from a concussion.
ICE CHIPS
--- Mike Babcock coached his team Sunday with a heavy heart. His father, "Big Mike Sr." died the night before.
--- This was the Red Wings' final visit to the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Islanders are moving to a new arena in Brooklyn, New York, next season.
--- Defenseman Jakub Kindl and forward Daniel Cleary were healthy scratches.
