After winning game 2 on the road to even the series, most teams would hope to turn around and take game 3 at home as well.
But the Red Wings were unsuccessful in doing so. Now, I may get my fair share of cries and screams for saying this, but the Red Wings lost because of two things: officiating and goaltending. By officiating, I am referring to the fact that the Wings were cheated out of a goal yet again because some official decided to lose sight of the puck.
But forget the officiating for now. There is nothing that can be done about that. Goaltending, on the other hand, can be fixed. Mike Babcock basically has three options: 1. He can pull Jimmy Howard for Chris Osgood right away. 2. He can let Howard start game 4 and make a decision based on his performance. Or 3. He can decide that Howard is sticking in net, regardless of game 4 performance, and probably leave him in for the remainder of the playoffs.
The last option is not recommended. For Babcock to do so would not only make himself look like a stubborn mule, but would also neglect the playoff experience of backup Chris Osgood. Not to mention the mental damage it could inflict upon Howard.
So that leaves us with options 1 and 2. Option 2 may appear to be the way to go, but maybe not. Coach Bruce Boudreau of the Washington Capitals wasted no time at all. After a quick 2 goals in game 2, Theodore was riding the pine in favor of Varlamov. And it worked.
The argument for Howard is that, for the most part, the goals were the fault of lousy defensive plays. That argument would prove effective in the regular season, there is no doubt about that. But this isn't the regular season. It's the playoffs. The playoffs is when you expect your goalie to step up, at least from time to time. Howard failed to do so on Sunday afternoon.
And it's not as if benching Howard would be the equivalent of waving the white flag of surrender. Chris Osgood has shown, time and time again, that the playoffs are his time to shine. He could prove to be more than effective in goal.
But then again, maybe Babcock does need to give Howard one more chance. He was playing fairly well before game 3, after all. Perhaps he can recover. It's definitely not out of the question. Pulling him out right away may not be the answer.
The arguments on both sides are legit. Overall, I would lean toward option 1 if it were my team. But it's not. It's a decision that Mike Babcock will have to make, and it's a reason that I'm glad that I am not Mike Babcock. Whatever decision he makes, he will be the target of criticism, you can be sure of that. Yank Howard now and he'll be accused of jumping the gun. Let him start on Tuesday and they'll question whether he is being too easy on the rookie.
Whatever the decision, Babcock better be right.
After all, the Detroit Red Wings season will probably depend on it.
