Fantasy Spin: Red Wings' Mrazek likely to get starts

Petr Mrazek could be the Detroit Red Wings' No. 1 goalie for the foreseeable future after Jimmy Howard (90 percent owned in Yahoo leagues) sustained a groin injury and left the ice on a stretcher in the first period of a 3-1 loss to the Washington Capitals.

Red Wings coach Mike Babcock didn't have an update afterward, but said Howard would return to Detroit to undergo tests.

Petr Mrazek

Goalie - DET

RECORD: 5-3-1
GAA: 2.29 | SVP: .916

"You know Howard doesn't get carried off on a stretcher if it isn't severe," Ericsson told MLive.com. "We're just hoping and praying [Howard] is going to recover fast and get back in the game as soon as possible."

Mrazek (14 percent owned) entered the game and made 12 saves on 14 shots. Mrazek (5-2-1, 2.29 goals-against average, .916 save percentage) has played in nine games this season and has allowed three goals or fewer in six of his seven starts.

Regular backup Jonas Gustavsson hasn't played since Nov. 5 because of a shoulder injury, so this could be Mrazek's opportunity. In 20 career games, Mrazek is 8-8-1. He'll likely add more wins to his total, and you can't ask for much better numbers than his career goals-against average (2.03) and save percentage (.921).

- Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak (2 percent owned, RW) scored his first two NHL goals in a 3-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers. Pastrnak had one assist in five games with the Bruins earlier this season, but was loaned to the Czech Republic for the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Pastrnak had two shots in 16:08 of ice time. His 4:16 on the first power-play unit, with Torey Krug, Zdeno Chara, Milan Lucic and David Krejci, tied Lucic for the most on the Bruins.

The Bruins assigned forward Seth Griffith to Providence of the American Hockey League, which likely means Pastrnak will stick with the Bruins.

- Nashville Predators forward Colin Wilson (31 percent owned, C, LW) continues to impress. He had a goal and an assist in a 3-1 win against the Minnesota Wild. In his past 10 games, he has six goals and seven assists, including five multipoint games, and is plus-12.

- Winnipeg Jets forward Mathieu Perreault (13 percent owned, C) scored a goal and had an assist in a 5-4 shootout win against the Los Angeles Kings. He has 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) in his past 17 games and seven goals in his past 10 games. He doesn't get as much attention as Winnipeg's top-line players, Bryan Little, Andrew Ladd and Blake Wheeler, but he is the Jets' fourth-leading scorer behind those three and Dustin Byfuglien. Perreault also has eight power-play points.

- Joe Thornton returned for the San Jose Sharks in a 3-1 loss against New York Rangers after missing the past four games with a shoulder injury. Thornton replaced Barclay Goodrow, who moved to the fourth line, on the top line. Thornton didn't do much. He had one shot and was minus-3. The bigger news was John Scott was a healthy scratch, meaning rookie Melker Karlsson (1 percent owned, C) remained in the lineup. Karlsson, who the Fantasy Spin blog wrote about Thursday, scored for the fifth straight game, a Sharks rookie record.