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Los Angeles Kings goalie Mathieu Garon, right, watches the puck as Kirk Maltby scores a short-handed goal on him in the third period.Red Wings: Notebook
Howard might get a start soon
With Wings playing three games in five days, rookie goalie could spell Legace at some point.
LOS ANGELES -- Jimmy Howard has been the forgotten man on the Red Wings' roster.
His patience might soon be rewarded.
Howard has been on the bench while goalie Manny Legace has started every game. Howard could get his first NHL start soon.
With the Wings defeating Los Angeles on Thursday, they now travel to Phoenix for Saturday's game and return to Detroit for a game against San Jose on Monday. The time could be right to give Legace a breather.
"There's always a chance," said coach Mike Babcock, about the possibility of using Howard.
Chris Osgood's groin injury forced the Wings to keep Howard on the roster.
Howard had impressive moments during the exhibition season. But ideally, the Wings would have liked to have him playing in Grand Rapids rather than sitting in Detroit.
Still, Babcock said he believes Howard could be ready for game action.
"The bottom line is he's in the NHL every day, he's facing NHL shooters every day, he's around a NHL goaltending coach, and it's a good environment for him to be around," Babcock said. "The question is how does he handle it? He has the skill level."
Howard is eager to get into a game.
"I'll be ready," said Howard, who has been doing extra work after practice with goalie coach Jim Bedard. "It helps facing the shooters we have every day. The practices are high tempo and we face a lot of shots.
"If I get the chance to play, I'll go out there and just take everything out of it and play my game. They've told me to prepare as I'm going to play.
"When that day comes, I'll remember it for the rest of my life."
Big shot
The Wings have been pleased with rookie forward Johan Franzen.
He's been a big body who has done good work on the penalty kill, been effective checking, and a tireless worker.
Franzen had been snakebit offensively until Thursday's third period when he broke a 2-2 tie with a goal against Kings goalie Mathieu Garon.
"That was a good shot," said Wings goalie Manny Legace of Franzen's laser stick-side shot on Garon.
Babcock said the key for Franzen is to maintain consistency and not take any mental nights off during the long, grinding NHL season.
But Babcock has certainly liked what he's seen so far.
"I like Franzen a lot, he's a big body," Babcock said. "He plays the game hard and he's got a heck of a shot. He can play with our without the puck."
Woolley plays
Most fans obviously noticed Steve Yzerman's return to the lineup, but Jason Woolley also played his first game of the season.
Without a team throughout the exhibition season, and through the first week of the regular season, Woolley was finally re-signed last weekend by the Wings.
Woolley played 12:58, was minus-2, and played extensively on the power play.
Woolley's training camp has essentially been the last six days.
"Missing training camp, I needed to get up to speed, and knowing the system," Woolley said. "I want to make sure I'm on the same page and feeling good."
Ice chips
With Yzerman and Woolley in the lineup, Babcock made Mark Mowers and Jamie Rivers healthy scratches.
... Coming down for Thursday's pre-game skate wasn't much of a problem, but Babcock also enjoyed life coaching the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and playing the Kings.
"We'd just come over for the game," Babcock said. "We'd have a pre-game skate at home, and bus here before the game. It's just 45 minutes away."
... The Wings' 4-1 start is the best start in Babcock's three-year coaching career. In Anaheim, the Ducks started 0-4-0-1, and 1-3-1-0, in his two years behind the bench.
... Thursday's game was the 1,400th of defenseman Chris Chelios' career.
... Kings coach Andy Murray, on Thursday's loss: "We have a lot of talent expected to produce for us and we need to have them perform in games such as these."
... The Wings have won seven games overall against the Kings, and four consecutive games at Staples Center. The Kings last defeated the Wings on home ice on Oct. 12, 2002.
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