Notes: Coreau gets first NHL start of season against Bruins

BOSTON -- The big man is finally getting his chance.
Jared Coreau has patiently waited for his opportunity to play since being called up to the Red Wings Feb. 20 and he gets it in Boston tonight against the red-hot Bruins.

"It feels good," Coreau said after the morning skate at TD Garden. "Getting here yesterday, knowing I was playing, walking out into the stadium, it just felt comfortable this time. I think last year there was a lot of new experiences for me and I think part of that was some of the excitement that came with it. There's some jitters, but I feel ready. I feel the most ready I ever have."
Wings coach Jeff Blashill said Coreau's start was not planned all along.
"I knew I was going to try to get him in here at some point," Blashill said. "I got faith in him as a goalie, I said that before, and so it's just a matter of the right opportunity. Obviously, Jimmy (Howard) has played a lot of hockey here lately, too, and so it gives Jimmy a rest and gives us a look at Jared."
Coreau played in 14 games last season, going 5-4-3 with a 3.46 goals-against average, .887 save percentage and two shutouts.
The 6-foot-6 netminder earned AHL Goaltender of the Month honors for February, going 4-0-2 with a 1.46 goals-against average, .951 save percentage and two shutouts.
"The start of the year was a little slower than I wanted, so when I evaluated my games and my starts up until just before Christmas, I think the answer that I came up with was just more intensity," Coreau said. "So I brought more intensity into the games while still remaining under control. I think some guys can be really intense and start scrambling, lose their net. It was important to remember the intensity, but also staying under control."
Although Coreau hasn't played in the NHL this season, Blashill is very familiar with him.
"I had him in GR," Blashill said. "I think Jared has worked extremely hard over the years to really build his game. When he's playing his best, he uses his size very effectively, doesn't give up much net, doesn't over-move, there aren't many holes, he's hard to beat that way. When he's playing his best, he's a good puck-handler. I think he's looked really good since he's been up. We got him at a time when he was really hot in Grand Rapids, so I'm hoping that can carry over."
Of course, the Bruins are not an easy team to face in your first NHL start of the season. They are 40-15-8 overall and 22-7-4 at home.
"I think they're a deep team," Coreau said. "They do a good job of getting scoring from all four lines and their D-men. They have good goaltending back there in (Anton) Khudobin and (Tuukka) Rask. They're a well-balanced team. I think's that going to be the challenge, that they're always going to be coming with a forecheck and putting a lot of pressure on, where some teams if they're not as deep, we match up well, we can keep it in their end perhaps. Not every game that's the case, but I think tonight it will be a big challenge just to weather some storms, and we're going to create our own storms as well."
Dylan Larkin is thrilled for Coreau to get a chance to play.
"It's exciting," Larkin said. "I know he's fired up and that's a good thing. I think he can come in here and steal us a game."
The Bruins will be without Rask, who has a lower-body injury; Patrice Bergeron, who has a fractured right foot; and Charlie McAvoy, who has a left MCL sprain.
"Our focus is on us," Blashill said. "They got lots of good players still in the lineup. So certainly there's some good ones missing but they got lots of them still in the lineup. But our focus is on us and playing great hockey."
Tonight marks the 600th time the Wings have faced the Bruins.
The Bruins have gone 13-1-1 in the last 15 games between the teams, which includes a current seven-game winning streak in Boston.
The last time the Wings won in Boston was Oct. 14, 2013, a 3-2 victory.
"They're good at home," Larkin said. "They get on a roll. It seems like they forecheck really hard here, they score here. The building's got a lot of energy and if you let them create that energy, it's hard to get that momentum back. I think tonight a good first period is our key. Getting the first goal will be huge for us, too."
BROTHERLY SUCCESS: The only thing better than your own success is the success of someone you love.
For Larkin, coming to Boston to play the Bruins meant he got a chance to see his brother, Colin, who played at University of Massachusetts-Boston.

The brothers had something special to celebrate as Colin had just signed with the Edmonton Oilers.
"There was talks this week. The past couple of months he's been getting a lot of attention," Dylan Larkin said. "His season ended last weekend and he had a couple of offers. He called me right away after he got off the phone with the guys from Edmonton. It's a really good offer for him, something he can't turn down. He's thrilled and happy to be a part of that organization. We're really proud of him and happy for him and excited to see how he does."
Because Colin had signed, he didn't have too much time to spend with Dylan as he had to leave town to join his new organization.
"I got to see him yesterday when we got in in the morning," Dylan Larkin said. "It was good to just catch up with him, get breakfast. He left yesterday. I'm excited to see how practice goes for him today. The feeling from him was he was excited and a little bit unsure of what to expect. It's a great organization. He's in great hands."
There are not a lot of players that sign with NHL teams out of Division III schools.

"With him, he's a late bloomer. He never got a Division I offer," Dylan Larkin said. "He went to UMass-Boston, which is a Division III school and just kept playing and working hard. He excelled at that level. He wanted to be the best player on his team and then that carried on to being the best player on the ice every night, the best player in his conference, and ultimately I think he was the best player in the nation for Division III.
"His confidence is sky high. I think for any player that's something you need. I'm just excited to see how he does at the next level. I got the chance to watch him play and it was good hockey. I'm excited. It could open doors for other Division III players. It's a cool thing."
Asked to describe his brother as a player, Dylan Larkin said, "I'd say pretty similar to myself. Good skater. He's a little bit bigger than I am. He's an offensive centerman. He scores and he's a good player."
FRK BACK IN: Martin Frk draws back into the lineup against the Bruins after playing in just three of the last eight games.
"I talked to him a little bit," Blashill said. "He's got to go in and play with confidence and that confidence has to come from within and when he does that he's a good player. Sometimes as a player … the easiest times are when you get lots of ice time and you're on a top-three line and maybe on a specialty team role and the hardest time is when you're not. The guys that grind through and find ways to be effective in those roles are guys that end up earning more ice time after that. So hopefully he can give us a boost there going back in the lineup."
Frk has not recorded a point since scoring a goal on Feb. 9 at the New York Islanders.