Petr Mrazek Shows Short-Term Memory Key to Victory for Both Red Wings, Lightning

Just as in the Detroit Red Wings’ first win in their series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the stars of Game 3 were Pavel Datsyuk and Petr Mrazek. Datsyuk scored the first goal of the game, and Mrazek did the rest, turning aside all 22 shots he faced in a 3-0 win. There were some differences between this win and Detroit’s first of the series, though, and those differences make this game far more important to the Red Wings.

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At the top of the list is Mrazek himself. He surrendered four goals on just 18 shots in a Game 2 loss, and while much of the blame falls on his teammates (the goals against were, in order, two shots from point-blank range, a cross-ice one-timer from point-blank range and a breakaway goal), it wasn’t the kind of game the young goalie will be adding to his scrapbook anytime soon.

It would have been easy for Mrazek to let that performance snowball, but the best goalies tend to rebound quickly from difficult games. Former NHL goaltender Martin Biron related a great example to Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News in a piece that ran last year:

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I saw Brodeur getting pulled when I was with the Isles on Long Island. And when I came down from the press box and walked by the Devils' room on my way to the Islanders' room, (Brodeur) was in the locker room early in the third period already halfway out of his gear. The only way he was going back in was if there (had been) an injury. I think it's just the mentality of a starting goalie that when you get pulled, that's a chance for you to press the reset button right then.

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It’s related to what Los Angeles Dodgers scout John Sanders told Nate Silver in his book The Signal and the Noise. Sanders explained to Silver that when a hitter “flails at a pitch, when he takes a big swing and to the fans it looks ridiculous,” he likes to see the hitter grinning afterward. Failures and slumps are part of playing professional sports, and as Silver notes, the ability to cope with those failures “requires a short memory and a certain sense of humor.”

Mrazek, with fewer than 50 major league games under his belt, seems to have those qualities down. He's shown them before, as Yahoo Sports' Greg Wyshynski noted following the game:

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He was pulled in Game 2 against the Tampa Bay Lightning after giving up four goals on 18 shots. But every other time he was pulled this season, he responded with an awesome effort, going 3-0-1 with a 1.71 goals-against average and a .949 save percentage.

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Mrazek's first career playoff shutout continues the trend. If Detroit is to go on a playoff run, it will need a starting goalie who is both highly capable and resilient when checked by obstacles; Mrazek’s performance in the early days of his NHL career is a very good sign in that regard.

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While Mrazek and Datsyuk take the headlines here, as they did in Game 1, the biggest difference between the two contests was the team around them. The rest of the Red Wings had their best game of the series Tuesday night.

Particularly impressive was Detroit’s work in the third period; the Red Wings outscored the Lightning and repeatedly thwarted rushes in the neutral zone. In the 10 minutes before Luke Glendening’s empty-net goal sealed the win, the Lightning needed two goals. Not only did they not get them, but the club also managed just two scoring chances through that stretch. It was a far cry from the Game 1 win, when Tampa Bay outshot Detroit 19-4 in the final frame.

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“Confidence is earned,” Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock told NBCSN’s Andy Brickley during a first-period interview. “You’ve got to play well.”

The Red Wings certainly have the right to feel confident now; not only do they hold a 2-1 series lead, but this is also the first time they’ve really outplayed the Lightning in this opening round.

The challenge for Tampa Bay will be to do what Mrazek just did, shaking off a poor outing and following it with a stronger showing. It won’t be easy, but the Lightning were quite good in this series' first two games, and even this latest outing might have gone the other way, as Tampa Bay rang three pucks off the post at various points in Game 3.

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Steven Stamkos, in particular, will need to be better. Tampa Bay's captain had eight shots in Game 1 and a pair of assists in Game 2, but he looked decidedly subpar Tuesday. The Lightning were outshot 8-1 when he was on the ice at even strength, and he also played 5:32 for an impotent power play. Those are wretched numbers for a superstar like Stamkos, and the Bolts desperately need this contest to be an aberration and not the start of a trend.

Detroit may have the edge through three games, but if the Lightning can come out strong in Game 4, this series will be a best-of-three in which they hold home-ice advantage. Mrazek and the Red Wings have shown they can shrug off a bad performance; it's time for Stamkos and the Lightning to do the same. 

Statistics courtesy of NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick.

Jonathan Willis covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter for more of his work.