The biggest goaltender news this past week was the injury to Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard. The 29-year-old net-minder from Syracuse, New York, is expected to miss 2-4 weeks with a knee injury. The first question that arises from this is: “Has Howard been hurt all along?” The former second-round pick is having an abysmal (for his standards) season with numbers paralleling his age-26 season. This year Howard has a 2.65 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. In his age-26 season, Howard posted a 2.79 goals-against average, and a .908 save percentage. His other three seasons as a full-time starter see the  – 6’0″ left-handed catching – goalie post an average of 2.14 goals-against and a save percentage of .923.

Whatever the case is, be it poor defense, a lingering injury that now finally is bad enough for him to have to sit out, or “Marc-Andre Fleury syndrome”, the Wings need to find an answer in goal while he’s out.

Enter Jonas Gustavsson. The 29-year-old Swede continues to post big numbers despite there being no track record for this level of success. He moves up our rankings thanks to the injury to Howard.

Another injury occurred this past week with Corey Crawford getting injured as well. The Chicago net-minder has struggled mightily on the season (just a .907 save percentage). The ailment for Crawford was deemed a “lower-body” injury. He is expected to miss three weeks. Antti Raanta (2.12 GAA, .926 save percentage) will start in his stead. He also finds his way up our rankings this week.