Red Wings recall veteran goalie from conditioning loan

The Red Wings have recalled goaltender Ville Husso from his conditioning loan to AHL Grand Rapids, per CapFriendly. Unfortunately, the move doesn’t indicate the netminder is ready to return to action. He was scheduled to start for Grand Rapids on Friday against Rockford but was pulled from warmups after sustaining what Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde called a “little setback,” via Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press.

Husso, 29, landed in Detroit last year after two seasons with the Blues but struggled in his first season as a true starter. In 56 starts, he posted a .896 save percentage, a 3.11 goals-against average, four shutouts and a 26-22-7 record.

Multiple lower-body injuries this season, the most recent of which has kept him out of action since February, have derailed his attempts to return to his elite form. He made 19 appearances earlier this season with a .892 SV%, including just eight minutes of action against the Oilers on Feb. 13 after missing nearly two months with a separate lower-body injury.

With this setback, it’s safe to assume Husso is done for the regular season. He would have been the third goalie on Detroit’s depth chart anyway, as both Alex Lyon and James Reimer have put up far better numbers as they chase the franchise’s first playoff berth in nearly a decade. Those two have posted save percentages of .906 and .905, respectively, although Lyon’s done so over a much larger sample size with 42 starts and one relief appearance.

The Wings are tied with the Capitals for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 87 points through 80 games but lose the tiebreaker due to having three fewer regulation wins. Detroit has a much easier schedule over their final two games, a back-to-back home-and-home with the Canadiens, while the Caps have to face the Atlantic Division champion Bruins and the Flyers.