Mrazek Moved On From Game 2; Teammates Say Goals Not His Fault
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
CBS DETROIT - In Game 1 of the first-round playoff series between the Detroit Red Wings and the Tampa Bay Lightning, goaltender Petr Mrazek allowed two goals and made 44 saves. In Game 2 of the series, Mrazek saw the puck fly past him on four occasions before he was pulled after two periods.
The Red Wings won the first game and lost the second, so the series is tied, 1-1, as the teams get set to play Game 3 in Detroit on Tuesday.
Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock and various players have exonerated Mrazek for Saturday's loss, insisting the goals were more failures of other players than of the 23-year-old goaltender.
"Let in four goals, but at the same time, they're not stoppable pucks," forward Gustav Nyquist said Monday. "They're defensive breakdowns from a team perspective, and we're not helping him out at all."
Mrazek said he has not watched the film of that game.
"It's just over," Mrazek said. "When the game's over, you don't think about it anymore. You're just looking forward to a new day and a new game."
Mrazek, whom Babcock selected as the playoff starter over veteran Jimmy Howard, does not deny that there is pressure on him to perform, but if it bothers him, he is not admitting it.
"If you feel pressure, you play better," Mrazek said. "That's the way I feel ... I don't think goalies are nervous. If you feel pressure and you know how to handle it, it's good to play under pressure.
"When it's pressure, you can be better," Mrazek added. "That's how it should be."
Throughout the regular season, the young goaltender displayed a knack for bouncing back from bad starts. On March 29, Mrazek allowed four goals in the first period against the New York Islanders, but two days later, he held the Ottawa Senators to a single goal.
Most recently, Mrazek shut out the Carolina Hurricanes on April 11 after allowing two goals and three goals, respectively, in his two starts before that.
"That's what he does, and that's what he has been doing for us all year," defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. "We made some big mistakes [Saturday], and he was left hung out to dry, so we've got to do a better job in front of him."
