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Red Wings Goalie Race Will Go Down to the Wire

Talbot will start tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs

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Ville Husso, Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings goaltending competition is making it difficult for coach Derek Lalonde in a positive way.



With three games left in the preseason, the race is still undecided because the three top goalies are all playing well enough to be considered for the starting job. Alex Lyon boasts a 1.50 goals-against average, while Ville Husso is at 1.80 and Cam Talbot shows a 2.03 GAA.

“We talked about it being a blank slate and you want them to execute and perform,” Lalonde said. “(Tuesday) Ville Husso played at an extremely high level. Obviously, it’s just one game, but all of our goalies have shown very well in camp..and they’ll get more opportunity, three more games to let this play out.”

Talbot’s Turn

Cam Talbot will play a full game tonight at Little Caesars Arena against the Maple Leafs. Lyon will play Friday at home against the Ottawa Senators.

Who will start in net seems to be the only unsettled question in training camp, although it still feels like GM Steve Yzerman and Lalonde would like to figure out a way to keep rookies Marco Kasper and/or Nate Danielson.

If the Red Wings keep all three goalies, and that seems likely, then there is currently no room for another youngster.

Husso was the big question mark coming into training camp because he had not been healthy enough to play a full game since last December. But he has stayed healthy in training camp, and drew strong reviews from Lalonde when he stopped 43 of 44 shots to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 Tuesday.

“It wasn’t even the 97% (save percentage),” Lalonde said. “It was the way he looked. He looked sharp. He looked composed, he was seeing pucks. (His) puck handles were great. That’s when a goalie looks comfortable in his net. Obviously a good step forward for him.”

In two games, Husso has stopped  57 of 61 shots for a .951 save percentage.

“At the end of the day a win is always a good thing,” Husso said. “I just went in with the mentality of go in and enjoy it, play a full game again, no pressure. Overall it went pretty well.”

Keeping Three Goalie Likely

Lyon is right there with Husso with a .943 save percentage (stopping 33 of 35.). Talbot’s save percentage is .900, but Lalonde has given positive feedback on him as well. GM Steve Yzerman would not have signed him to a two-year contract if he didn’t believe he could be a significant factor.

“He’s played very well. His two looks so far,” Lalonde said. “He’ll get 60 minutes tonight, which I think is important for him. But he’s shown extremely well. ”

Keeping three goalies is never ideal because goalies feel like they don’t get enough practice time. But the Red Wings did it last season to their advantage.

 “Again, I love a goalie by committee,” Lalonde said. “Obviously, I was fortunate enough to coach one of the greatest goalies will go down in history in (Andrei) Vasilevskiy, but not everyone has that luxury. Again, if it’s goalie by committee and they’re all playing at a high level and helping us win, we’ll go goalie by committee. Unfortunately, in the last couple years we’ve had to ride out some goalies when we knew we were probably over playing them and it probably hit a wall there. So I like the three. I like the vision with the three.”