Howard, who lost the starting job to Petr Mrazek, has allowed at least three goals in each of his past seven starts. He gave up five in his most recent start, a 6-3 loss at the Florida Panthers on Feb. 4.
But with the Red Wings playing the second of a back-to-back -- Mrazek made 17 saves in a 6-5 win against the Boston Bruins on Sunday -- coach Jeff Blashill is turning to Howard against the Islanders after Mrazek started the past five games.
"He doesn't have to worry about what's happened up to this point," Blashill said. "Let's worry about tonight's game, that's the No. 1 thing. Let's continue to look ahead. Let's have a next-shot mentality so after each shot, let's not worry about whether it was a big save or whether it hit the post or whether it went in. Let's worry about the next one. I think he's done a good job of that.
"He's in a good spot mentally, to be honest with you. He's really, really put in a lot of extra time with (goalie coach) Jimmy Bedard. I think he's prepared here tonight and now he's gotta go execute."
Islanders coach Jack Capuano will start goalie Thomas Greiss, who has been solid all season. Greiss, who is battling for starts with Jaroslav Halak, has a .930 save percentage and has won his past four starts. He's allowed two goals or less in the past three.
Would Capuano consider riding Greiss if he puts in another strong performance against the Red Wings? New York hosts the Washington Capitals on Thursday before visiting the New Jersey Devils on Friday.
"We had this kind of laid out with this stretch," Capuano said. "I know we've got Washington on Thursday, but I haven't even really thought about it right now, to be honest with you. But goaltending, as you guys know, it's crucial going down the stretch if you want to have a chance to make the playoffs or make a push."
Here are the projected lineups:
RED WINGS
Henrik Zetterberg - Pavel Datsyuk - Justin Abdelkader
Dylan Larkin - Brad Richards - Tomas Tatar
Gustav Nyquist - Andreas Athanasiou - Tomas Jurco
Riley Sheahan - Luke Glendening - Darren Helm
Kyle Quincey - Danny DeKeyser
Brendan Smith - Mike Green
Xavier Ouellet - Alexey Marchenko
Jimmy Howard
Petr Mrazek
Injured: Jonathan Ericsson (lower body), Niklas Kronwall (knee), Drew Miller (knee), Johan Franzen (concussion)
Scratched: Jakub Kindl, Teemu Pulkkinen
ISLANDERS
Mikhail Grabovski - John Tavares - Ryan Strome
Nikolay Kulemin - Frans Nielsen - Kyle Okposo
Anders Lee - Brock Nelson - Josh Bailey
Matt Martin - Casey Cizikas - Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy - Johnny Boychuk
Calvin de Haan - Travis Hamonic
Thomas Hickey - Marek Zidlicky
Thomas Greiss
Jaroslav Halak
Injured: Eric Boulton (lower body), Adam Pelech (upper body)
Scratched: J-F Berube, Steve Bernier, Brian Strait
Status report:Ericsson remains day-to-day after getting injured late in a 3-2 shootout loss against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday. … Clutterbuck returns to the lineup after missing the Islanders' 6-3 loss at the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday because of an illness. He replaces Bernier.
Who's hot: Datsyuk has five goals and four assists during a five-game point streak. He had two goals and an assist Sunday. … Tavares has a five-game point streak (four goals, five assists).
