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Red Wings Giving Husso Game 1 Nod

Originally posted on Detroit Hockey Now | By Bob Duff | Last updated Oct 9, 2024 3:47 PM ET

Detroit Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde was claiming entering training camp that there was a clean slate ahead for his three NHL netminders. However, if you were to suggest Ville Husso would end up being the odd man out in the equation, no one would’ve questioned your ability to do math.

Yet, as it turns out, Lalonde is a man of his word. It was the oft-injured Husso who was Detroit’s strongest performer in net during the NHL preseason. And when the games get underway for real on Thursday, it will be Husso who’s between the pipes.

He’s getting the opening-night starting assignment as the Wings play host to the Pittsburgh Penguins at Little Caesars Arena.

Goals from Amadeus Lombardi and Nate Danielson, plus 43 saves for Ville Husso!#LGRW pic.twitter.com/FTkopJ5rnh

— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) October 2, 2024

“His play,” Lalonde was confirming as to what won the day for Husso. “I think he was very sharp his last two performances, his win in Pittsburgh and his performance in Toronto. Those were both very hard tests.

“There’s a lot of volume. We played both opponents with their full rosters and obviously we did not (have full roster).”

Husso Rebounding From Poor 2023-24 Red Wings Campaign

Husso’s start on Thursday will be just his second NHL appearance of 2024. His previous outing in February at ended barely lasted nine minutes before he was suffering an injury. He’d already been on the shelf since December due to a lower-body injury.

In the summer, Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman made no bones about the fact that they’d signed veteran goalie Cam Talbot as a UFA simply because they didn’t know whether they could trust Husso’s health.