"Through the All-Star break, Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard had racked up an impressive stat line, one that put him in the No. 3 slot for the season on the ESPN Player Rater. After winning two straight during the Wings' subsequent jaunt through Western Canada -- stopping 50 of 54 shots overall for a .926 save percentage -- he emerged from the second of those games with a broken right index finger. Given that this is the hand with which Howard holds his stick, that's a problem.

Initial reports indicated that Howard would miss the two remaining games on the Red Wings' road trip, and he has: Ty Conklin got the start against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, while Joey MacDonald got the nod on Monday against the Phoenix Coyotes. However, the timeline for Howard's return has been adjusted, and it's now believed he'll miss anywhere from two to six weeks. At the low end of that range, he'll miss the Wings' next four games; at the high end, the next 17. In the end, it'll probably be somewhere smack dab in the middle.

So how does one replace a superstar netminder such as Howard? One doesn't. In my Top 40 list released just prior to the All-Star break, Howard had slid into the top spot: I felt that his combination of wins and solid ratio stats would continue while the team jockeyed for position in the Western Conference standings. His owners -- who would've been in good position -- are left scrambling for alternatives. The Red Wings are in a similar jam. Prior to the injury, Howard had started 44 games this season, compared to just nine for Conklin. Over the past three seasons combined, the Red Wings are 106-44-18 in games that Howard has started, but only 20-22-8 when one of his backups (Chris Osgood, Conklin or MacDonald) has been tabbed, according to the Elias Sports Bureau."