Red Wings' Petr Mrazek: Records first win of season Monday

Mrazek allowed only one goal on 32 shots in Monday's 5-1 home win over the Senators.

Analysis:

The lone goal allowed by Mrazek was a deflected shorthanded tally for Ryan Dzingel. Now, the monkey should be off the Czech goalie's back, as he looked past his struggles from the first two games -- a pair of road losses -- and stood tall in front of the home crowd. Mrazek owns a poor 3.03 GAA and .913 save mark in the early going of the 2016-17 campaign, but his leash might be longer than many were led to believe. Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill could've turned to the veteran Jimmy Howard in this latest contest, but evidently felt that it was important to show faith in the younger backstop to turn things around, and it worked.