Detroit goaltender Ville Husso—out since December 18th—is closing in on his return to game action

After Thursday morning's optional skate, Detroit Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde provided an update on goaltender Ville Husso, who has not played since December 18th.  Husso was injured against the Anaheim Ducks and had to leave the game in the first period.

Today, Lalonde said, "Ville's close...We're leaning towards getting him to Grand Rapids for a game, potentially on Friday.  We'll probably get him one more skate today, and we'll have a better feel if that's going to be a potential possibility."

The Griffins host the Belleville Senators Friday and Saturday night, and it sounds as though Husso is tracking toward a conditioning start in one of those two games.  

Like the injured Ben Chiarot and Patrick Kane, it appears Husso could be available for the final game before the All-Star break and Detroit's bye week Wednesday against the Ottawa Senators but that he should definitely be available coming out of that break.

For the season, Husso has an .893 save percentage and 3.53 goals against average.  Once he is back to full health, Lalonde and his staff will have to determine how to integrate him back into the goaltending rotation with Alex Lyon.

Though Tuesday's loss to Dallas was not his sharpest performance, Lyon has been excellent in the month of January, seemingly playing his way into being Detroit's number one goaltender.  

That leaves Lalonde and company with the challenge of determining the right workload for Husso, who began the season as the Red Wings' clearcut number one option in net.

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