Only confirming what was previously known, today it was announced that Jimmy Howard’s injury suffered in Tuesday night’s loss was an MCL sprain, putting him out 4-6 weeks.

Though he was placed on the 7-day IR, it was always likely that Jimmy Howard would be out for a significant period of time.

If there’s a bright side to the Howard injury, it’s a test for Petr Mrazek and a real look for Jared Coreau, who’s likely to receive multiple starts in Howard’s absence. In fact, it’s likely Coreau slots in as early as tonight against the Florida Panthers.

Howard was averaging a career-best .934 save percentage this season through 17 games.