Photo by Andie Wojciak/MiHockey

Red Wings recall Jared Coreau from Grand Rapids

By @StefanKubus  –

With Jimmy Howard ruled out for Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay with a lower-body injury (day-to-day), the Red Wings called up Jared Coreau from Grand Rapids to back up Petr Mrazek.

Coreau, 26, has posted a 12-9-2 record, 2.77 goals-against average and .906 save percentage with the Griffins this season. The Northern Michigan alum has not made an appearance in the NHL this season, but did compete in 14 games last season in which he compiled a 5-4-3 record.

Considering Howard is 4-0 with a .961 save percentage in the Red Wings’ previous four outings, he’ll certainly be missed as Detroit welcomes the league’s top team to Little Caesars Arena Sunday night.

But with the Wings set for their league-mandated five-day break, Howard will have time to recover until next Saturday’s game in Chicago.

Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill told reporters Saturday after practice that Howard suffered the injury during the Florida game on Friday, which didn’t force him to leave the game.

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay is coming off a 2-1 shootout loss to Montreal on Thursday and a 6-3 loss to Ottawa Saturday night. Tampa is 1-5 in the second of back-to-back games this season, though the Lightning have also not lost three in a row at any point this season. The Bolts enter Sunday with the league’s most potent offense, averaging 3.61 goals per game (2.90 league average). Andrei Vasilevskiy leads the NHL in wins (26), while Nikita Kucherov leads the league in goals and points.

Detroit is riding a season-high four-game (five at home) win streak into Sunday’s contest.