The last time Petr Mrazek got the call versus Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, he stopped 38 shots in a 1-0 Detroit win.
Ovechkin had 15 -- fifteen! -- of those 38 shots, not one of them good enough to beat the 23-year-old Red Wings goalie.
Tonight on NBCSN, just eight days after the last time, Mrazek will face the Caps again at Joe Louis Arena.
“He was good,” Ovechkin told NHL.com. “Sometimes you have those kind of nights when you don’t score goals.”
In fact, Mrazek has been good all season. His 5-4-0 record doesn’t do him justice. Four times he’s made at least 30 saves in a Detroit win. Once it was 44 saves. In nine starts, he’s yet to allow more than three goals. He has a .935 save percentage.
Jimmy Howard has been pretty good as well. He’s 4-4-1 with a .918 save rate.
But Mrazek has been the star. And on that note, as a pending restricted free agent, it’ll be interesting to see if the Red Wings try to lock him up long term. They’re already committed to Howard through 2018-19, for a cap hit just north of $5 million.
Braden Holtby will start for the Caps.
Elsewhere...
-- Ryan Miller for the Canucks. Ondrej Pavelec expected for the Jets.
-- Corey Crawford for the Blackhawks. Anders Nilsson for the Oilers.