The Detroit Red Wings are mired in a losing skid they haven’t experienced in decades – literally.
They’ll look to win their first game in their past ten tonight when the Philadelphia Flyers come to Little Caesars Arena. They’ll also look to do so against their former teammate, goaltender Petr Mrazek.
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Traded to the Flyers last month, Mrazek has fared almost just like he did in Detroit despite the small sample size – inconsistently. He’s 5-5-1 with a 3.14 goals-against average and .888 save percentage. However, he’s looking forward to the matchup against his old team.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Mrazek said. “We’ll see who coach (Dave Hakstol) is going to decide to go with, but if I’m going to be in, even better. I’m really excited for it.”
Mrazek understands that while it will be nice to see some old friends, he and his new team still have work to do. They’re now six points ahead of the Florida Panthers for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Additionally, should Mrazek and the Flyers make the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the 2018 conditional fourth-round pick the Wings received in the trade becomes a third-round pick.
It’s going to be nice to get back, but when the game starts, it doesn’t matter who is on the other side,” Mrazek said. “We are going there to get some good results, and we have to build from there.”
Mrazek wasn’t surprised when he was dealt and was, in fact, ready for such a move.
“I was really ready for it for a little while,” Mrazek said of a potential trade. “I didn’t play much the first half of the year. Howie played real well the beginning of the year and there wasn’t (much chance) for me to go in.”
“After the New Year, I played a lot of games and I was happy for those games. It gave me an opportunity to be traded, teams could see me play.”
He’s excited for the opportunity to be the starter with the Flyers after both Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth went down with an injury.
“It’s fun to be with this group, we have a chance to make the playoffs and if we’re going to play the way we’ve been playing, we have a real good chance,” Mrazek said.
