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Detroit Red Wings

Red Wings Fall in Final Preseason Test

Detroit makes cuts on Saturday

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Ville Husso, Red Wings

TORONTO — The preseason ended for the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.



But the team’s front office was expected to be busy through the night and into Sunday.

The team will be making cuts to get down to its 23-man roster limit by the Monday 5 p.m. deadline.

On the ice, the Wings were sending a squad devoid of many starters to Toronto for the preseason finale to take on most of the Maple Leafs’ first-teamers. They were outplayed at times but they acquitted themselves well in a 3-2 loss.

Husso makes his case

Ville Husso, who went all the way in net, made a case for himself to be the team’s No. 1 goalie, stopping 31 of 33 shots.

That included a 15-1 Toronto volley in the second period.

The Wings (3-3-2 in the preseason) never trailed in the first two periods, scoring first on Christian Fischer’s goal at the 3:33 mark.

Toronto tied it midway through the period on a goal by Stephen Lorentz. The Wings retook the lead late in the period on a power-play goal by Andrew Copp.

Austin Matthews tied it on a power-play goal early in the second period.

Husso was outstanding in net in the period.  He stopped 14 shots while the Red Wings offense managed just one shot.

John Tavares broke the tie early in the third period.

The game ended a grueling preseason stretch that saw the Red Wings play three games in three days and five for the week.

The Red Wings’ braintrust will be busy this weekend determining the future for nearly two dozen players who won’t start the season in Detroit. They will also determine the roles of those who will.

Saturday’s result will be forgotten history by this time tomorrow. Certainly by the time the Red Wings begin their season against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.

Red Wings Make Roster Moves

The Red Wings on Saturday assigned forwards Alex Doucet, Amadeus Lombardi and Jakub Rychlovsky to the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins. The Red Wings also released forwards Hunter Johannes and Dominik Shine and defenseman Josiah Didier from their professional tryouts. They were returning all of them to Grand Rapids.

The Griffins on Saturday assigned forwards Carson Bantle and Gabriel Seger, defenseman Chaz Reddekopp and goaltender Jan Bednar to the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye.