Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard was scratched from the lineup for Thursday night's game against the Phoenix Coyotes due to back spasms. The Wings have recalled goalie Joey McDonald from Grand Rapids to fill in on the roster.
Chris Osgood will get the start in goal for Detroit, with McDonald backing him up. Howard was scheduled to start, but experienced back spasms during the morning skate and was scratched.
In four games with the Griffins this season, McDonald was 2-1-1 with a 1.72 goals against average and .929 save percentage.
The Wings don't have much wiggle room under the salary cap, so had to make a few moves to accommodate McDonald on the roster.
Forward Kris Draper, who had hernia surgery last week, was moved to long-term injured reserve. That requires him to be out a minimum of 10 games or 24 days. Since Draper will miss four to six weeks as he recovers from surgery, however, that doesn't figure to be a problem.
Defenseman Brian Rafalski, who's still recovering arthroscopic knee surgery, was put on short-term injured reserve. That would require him to be out a minimum of seven days, but he's already missed more than two weeks so could be activated whenever he's ready.