Notes: Howard out for Sunday's game against Lightning

DETROIT -- If the Red Wings are going to continue their four-game winning streak (five-game streak at home), they'll have to do so without goaltender Jimmy Howard.
Howard was out for the very beginning of practice Saturday at BELFOR Training Center, but quickly left the ice.

"I would say Jimmy is out for tomorrow," Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "I would say right now it's day to day, lower body. "He was able to finish the game, tried to skate this morning and couldn't do everything he wanted to do to be comfortable to play."
Blashill said that the injury occurred in the second period of Friday night's 4-2 win over the Florida Panthers.
This will give Petr Mrazek his first opportunity since making 34 saves in a 6-3 win over the New York Islanders Dec. 19 in Brooklyn.
"Pete's had some great games against Tampa over his time here," Blashill said. "Not every one, but he's certainly had some great ones if you go back to playoff series. I think he's worked hard to put himself in position to be ready and now he's got to play well."
In 10 regular-season games (eight starts) against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Mrazek is 1-7-1 with a 3.63 goals-against average and .867 save percentage.
In 10 playoff games (all starts) against the Lightning, Mrazek is 4-6-0 with a 1.88 goals-against average and .931 save percentage.
Blashill said the Wings would recall someone to back up Mrazek after the Grand Rapids Griffins' game in Chicago tonight.
After Sunday, the Wings will have their five-day bye with their next game taking place next Saturday afternoon in Pittsburgh.
Blashill wasn't sure if Howard would be ready by then.
"All I know is he's out for tomorrow and let's see how it goes," Blashill said. "I don't think it's going to be a real long-term thing, but I don't have the answer."
Howard has won four straight games, making 145 of 153 saves during that time.
He is 4-2 with a 1.65 goals-against average and .952 save percentage in his last six games.
Overall, Howard is 14-12-6 with a 2.64 goals-against average and .916 save percentage.
"I know every game's part of it, but just the relief performance in Montreal, to take that out, his save percentage has got to be at .920," Blashill said. "That's in that range of what you need in order to be a successful hockey team. If you can get a guy that's running in the .920s somewhere, you're going to give yourself a real good chance to win lots of nights and I just don't know if you can win in this league without that. Again, we look at the team we're playing tomorrow, who everybody considers one of the best teams in the league, really that's a .940 save percentage (.939 for Andrei Vasilevskiy). That's a lot of saves at critical moments and allows you to stretch the game out lots of times. So I think Jimmy's given us really, really good goaltending most nights."
Blashill said Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Tatar, who missed practice, are expected to play Sunday.
LARKIN'S 200TH: When Dylan Larkin played Friday against the Panthers, it was his 200th career NHL game at the tender age of 21.
Larkin added to his team-leading point total with an assist on Tomas Tatar's goal at 7:08 of the second, giving him 27 assists and 33 points.
"It flew by. It's pretty cool. It's just another number, I guess," Larkin said. "It's something I guess you notice but I'm just lucky to be able to play one game in the NHL. Now 200 is still something that every day I'm grateful for. It's something that I've worked hard for. I guess it's a milestone where you can kind of look back and see it's only been three years, but 200 games is a lot of games."
Larkin said he is pleased that all of his work in the offseason is paying dividends now.
"I think it's consistency as well, being ready to go every night," Larkin said. "That's what I feel like helps the most. With the training in the off season, I haven't felt tired. I do feel like I've been taking rest more seriously. I think being consistent has been able to help me a ton this year."
Blashill has helped Larkin rein in his speed so that he can play at a fast pace while knowing when to stop or just slow down.
"I think (I've done) a lot of maturing from Day 1 to now," Larkin said. "I think I used to be wild all over the ice, 100 miles an hour. Now I like to think that I'm always in control. I try and play good defensively and then the offense will come."
Blashill has often said that the growth of the Wings has to come from within the team, from the players they have drafted.
"We need some of these young guys to become elite players and I think certainly Larkin, almost throughout the whole season, has been that," Blashill said. "He's been one of the best players on the ice every night, real good two-way player. Still learning some things but done a good job of that."
TAMPA BAY HEX? It wasn't meant as a trick question or a gotcha moment when a few of the Red Wings were asked the last time or how many times they've defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning.
"Uh, not much. Definitely not in Tampa," Larkin said.
"I, I, I don't know the stats on that," was how Gustav Nyquist answered.
When the Lightning arrive Sunday to play the Wings, they will be seeking their 10th consecutive victory over the Red Wings and their 14th in the last 15 games including playoffs.
"You certainly want to beat that team. They've obviously gone on a good run here. Like everybody else in the league, everybody is close," Blashill said. "They're winning tons of games, they're a real good team, but we play lots of good teams.
"From our standpoint, you're frustrated you haven't won more games against them. I got to listen to a bunch of crap in the summer (from Lightning coach Jon Cooper, Blashill's close friend), so I don't like that very much, so we want to go out and find a way to win, so it's a big game for us. We want to stay on a roll."
Though the series has been lopsided, the games have been competitive and close, which is a sore spot for the Wings.
"I can't remember specifically (how they've beaten the Wings) but they've got a dangerous power play for sure, they have skilled players that can score goals that have been scoring goals for them this year that are playing well," Nyquist said.
"Their whole team is dangerous defensively, too. Look at their 'D,' they have some really dangerous defensemen that like to join the rush. You have to be aware of them and have them earn their ice.
"Anytime you play a game you want to win. They've had our number; I feel we've always played good against them, played hard games, but they always find a way to get that last goal to push them over the edge. So hopefully we can change that tomorrow."
Larkin has experienced little success in beating the Lightning, but he feels with the way Detroit has been playing, the time may be ripe for the Wings to finally knock off their nemesis.
"Yeah, it is a good time," Larkin said. "You know what, it's a home game, we've been at home, we're in a groove at home. We've got one more game before break. There's no excuse to not give it all.
"We've got to come out and play a good game, be ready to go from the start like we have been. We play them well, obviously not good enough. I think that a common theme that I see when we play against them is we give them tons of opportunities on the penalty kill.
"It's an emotional game, a rivalry when we play them, and we've got to be able to control our emotions and not give them fourth and fifth opportunities on the power play. They've got a ton of weapons and two good units. If you're giving them any chances, they're going to score."
Tampa is the best team in the NHL. They have depth at every position and their goaltender, Vasilevskiy, has been playing out of his mind.
"Vasilevskiy is at a .939 save percentage, it's a huge number," Blashill said. (Nikita) Kucherov and (Steven) Stamkos, that line has put up a ridiculous amount of points. Their power play has been awesome. "(Tyler) Johnson, (Ondrej) Palat, (Brayden) Point is a really good second line. They got a really good team, but we play lots of good teams. We got to play our game, we got to make sure there's no space out there and we got to make them defend. When we do that, we got a chance to win every night."