An update on the healthy and availability of Jake Walman, Jeff Petry, and Ville Husso

Monday morning, the Detroit Red Wings practiced at the BELFOR Training Center within Little Caesars Arena, before traveling to Washington for a game tomorrow night against the Capitals where two vital points in the Eastern Conference wild card race will be on the line.

At that practice, defenseman Jake Walman skated with the team for the first time since being injured in Detroit's 6-3 loss in Pittsburgh on March 17th.  Of course, Walman taking the ice is an encouraging sign, but it does not mean he will be available tomorrow in D.C.

"Probably not, but we'll see," replied coach Derek Lalonde after practice, when asked whether Walman might be in the lineup tomorrow night. "We'll see how he responds from practice. His first full practice, and it was a legit practice—40 minutes with some legit reps—so that was a positive. You don't get many of those this time of year, so we'll see how he responds."

Defenseman Jeff Petry did not participate in practice, with Lalonde revealing that he is battling the illness that's been going around the Red Wing locker room over the last week.  "We'll see on Petry," the coach said, when asked about Petry's status for Tuesday night.  "He got caught up into the little sickness going through the whole team here.  It's kinda been staggered.  The guys have managed it pretty well, how they spread the sickness around.  So we'll see how he is for tomorrow."

If Walman and Petry prove unavailable for tomorrow night (with the latter sounding more likely to be an option than the former), Justin Holl would presumably fold back into the lineup for just the third time since the start of February.

Finally, Ville Husso was once again on the ice for practice, but he is still not ready for game action, even in the context of a potential conditioning start in the AHL.  Lalonde revealed that his recovery process hasn't been entirely smooth, saying "He's gotta get comfortable enough.  He's had a couple little small setbacks here, but he's gotta get comfortable to get into a game, which will probably be in Grand Rapids, and he's not there yet."

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