Jimmy Howard picked quite the performance to record a milestone moment. Howard blocked 32 shots Wednesday as the Wings were outshot 33-16 by the Anaheim Ducks but still skated away with a 2-1 victory.
With the win, his 215th in the NHL, Howard moved past former Boston Bruin (and ex-Detroit Viper for that matter) Tim Thomas into eighth spot for all-time NHL victories by a U.S.-born netminder.
“I didn’t even know,” Howard told Detroitredwings.com. “It’s really special, but for a goaltender to get wins, you have to have guys in front of you willing to go out there and do their jobs. Really, it’s all the guys in front of me.”
Wings coach Jeff Blashill begged to differ.
“That’s a great thing,” Blashill said of Howard’s achievement. “I think anytime you’re in that top of the list of accomplishments, I think that’s awesome. I’ve talked lots about this where Jimmy a couple years ago, last year, was in a tough spot and over the summer he was told he was going to be the backup and he went to work.
“I just think that’s what life’s about. I talked to a group this morning, I just believe success in life comes from work ethic and perseverance and I think he showed both those things. He went to work and he persevered. It’s not about whether you get knocked down, it’s about how many times you get back up and Jimmy’s gotten back up whenever he’s been challenged, including this season. He, like our team, has to continue to get back up when we get knocked down.”
Take A Seat
As the Wings struggled to get anything of consequence going in terms of attack in Wednesday’s game, one of the victims was forward Andreas Athanasiou, who was benched in the third period.
“I was playing the guys that I thought were going,” Blashill said. “Some nights Doubles is really going and tonight, obviously through my ice time said that he wasn’t going quite as good in my mind.”
Athanasiou and Blashill discussed the reasons behind his benching after the game.
“Yeah, we do a good job of talking after every game,” Athanasiou said. “The way the game unfolds, he’s got to make coaching adjustments and line matchups. But we got a win, that’s the most important part.”
Blashill felt that Athanasiou’s occasional bad habit of cheating on the offensive side of the puck was creeping back into his game.
“I think part of it is when he’s on, he’s winning tons of puck battles and the old term that (Miami coach) Rico Blasi used to use is nose over the puck, meaning he’s really engaged and on top of that puck and winning those puck battles,” Blashill said. “When he’s not on he reaches a little bit and boy, that’s a tough team to reach against. They’re big, big men, a real strong team.
“Again, Doubles is going to get a good chance to play lots against Tampa and I expect him to come out and be real good.”
Jan Can
As an American, Blashill wasn’t pleased to see the USA lose 3-2 to Slovenia in their opening men’s hockey game at the Olympics, but he was delighted to see former Wings forward Jan Mursak net the tying and winning goals for the Slovenians.
“ I was disappointed for the U.S. team,” Blashill said. “But I love Jan. Jan’s a great, great guy. He was great for me in Grand Rapids, I had him here in Detroit as an assistant, too. He plays hard.
“It doesn’t surprise me he’s having success and having success in that tournament.”
Mursak posted 2-2-4 totals in 46 games for the Wings from 2010-13.
Men Without Hats
Fifty-five games into the season, the Red Wings are still seeking their first hat trick. Tomas Tatar was the last Detroit player to register a three-goal game, on Dec. 17, 2016 against the Anaheim Ducks.
The Wings went through all of 2017 without a hat-trick, joining 1971 and 1931 as the only calendar years that a Detroit player did not fire a hat trick. They’ve gone an entire season without a player recording a three-goal game just once since 1971, and that was in 2008-09.
The other seasons in which the Wings did not have a player net a hat trick were 1970-71, 1953-54, 1941-42, 1931-32 and 1928-29.
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