Detroit Red Wings
Husso Pulled In Second Period of Red Wings Loss in Opener

DETROIT — Red Wings goalie Ville Husso still hasn’t played a 60-minute NHL game since Dec. 14. He didn’t pull his groin muscle again, but he did get pulled.
Coach Derek Lalonde replaced him at 5:28 of the second period after he gave up three goals in a span of two minutes and 33 seconds. That gave a seemingly tired Pittsburgh Penguins team a 4-1 lead and they went on to post a 6-3 win in Detroit’s season opener. The Penguins lost 6-0 to the Rangers Thursday night.
“Obviously (Husso) didn’t look as sharp as he did in the preseason,” Lalonde said. “You could just tell some of the rebound control, some things that were sticking to him or he was controlling in the preseason, he didn’t tonight. So again, he hasn’t played hockey. He had a lot of looks in the exhibition, but it’s still probably a little rust there, too.”
Husso played a full game in a 2-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on December 14. Two days later, he provided a 30-minute relief effort against Philadelphia. He was then injured against the Anaheim Ducks of Dec. 18, playing only 17 minutes and 23 seconds. He returned to the lineup in February against Edmonton and lasted less than nine minutes before he was reinjured.
Loss Isn’t All on Husso
The Finnish goaltender has looked sharp in the preseason to win Derek Lalonde’s “blank slate” open goalie competition to be Detroit’s starter.
He had just recently beat the Penguins with a 43-save preseason performance. He looked like he was ready to reclaim the No. 1 job.
“I mean, you don’t want to see that at all,” captain Dylan Larkin said about Husso’s early departure. ”
And just a bad second period for all of us, and he’s the one that gets pulled. It’s not fair to him. When a goalie gets pulled, it’s not usually just him. It’s a full lineup that needs to be accountable as well. But you don’t want to see that. And hopefully Huss has bounced back from everything he’s gone through and we know what kind of player he can be for us, and I know he’ll bounce back from tonight.”
Change in Net
The Red Wings play Saturday against Nashville, but Husso likely won’t get a chance for redemption then.
“Obviously Ville did not look overly comfortable tonight, which again, understandable with the lack of hockey’s played,” Lalonde said. “But it really hasn’t changed from the exhibition preseason of three guys we have some confidence with, and we’ll obviously see a different starter on Saturday.”
Lalonde has indicated he planned to use all three of his goalies early in the season. Cam Talbot relieved Husso and gave up two goals on 14 shots. Alex Lyon could be dressed Saturday as a started or backup.
Giving up too many goals was a problem from last season that the Red Wings want to correct. They gave up four or more goals 39 times last season. It wasn’t all about the goaltending last season either.
Alex DeBrincat scored two goals and added an assist, and he was still minus-2 because he was on the ice for four of the six Pittsburgh goals. Simon Edvinsson was minus-2, as was Ben Chiarot. Erik Gustafsson was minus-2.
“I think a lot of it was us,” DeBrincat said. “We weren’t winning battles. Weren’t clean on a lot of different plays. We had some good looks, too. We had a couple good power plays. Overall, we weren’t strong on our sticks. The board battles, we end up rimming it out and no one’s there. I think there’s plenty to clean up. Some good, a lot of bad. We got to be more ready for Saturday.”