Red Wings stress need to get two goalies in a groove

DETROIT – As much as Detroit Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde might be tempted to ride Alex Lyon’s hot hand, he doesn’t want to overwork him.

That’s why Cam Talbot will start in goal tonight against the New Jersey Devils at Little Caesars Arena (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network).

Lyon is coming off a 1-0 shutout over Nashville and has stopped 56-of-58 shots in back-to-back road victories, but the Red Wings don’t want to a repeat of last season, when a heavy workload affected his performance down the stretch at times.

“I know Alex has played at a very high level his last two games, but we’ve been here before,” Lalonde said. “We got to get two goalies going and I know Cam didn’t look overly comfortable last game out, but he was really good the previous game, so we’re excited to get him back in net tonight.”

Talbot made 42 saves in a 3-0 victory over Nashville on Oct. 12 but allowed five goals on 19 shots and was pulled midway through the second period of a 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers five days later.

“We want to get a rhythm,” Lalonde said. “We need to get two guys rolling. We got in this situation last year where Alex was playing at such a high level (and) we didn’t really have a comfortable option at the time outside of Alex. We overplayed him. It was pretty obvious, and it affected his play. We want to be able to manage that this season.”

Lyon likely will be back in goal Saturday at Buffalo.

“He’s put some confidence in the group, there’s no doubt about that,” Lalonde said.

Lalonde said the club hasn’t given up on Ville Husso, who was assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins on Oct. 14 and recorded a 22-save shutout in his lone appearance there so far (he has shutouts in both of his appearances with Grand Rapids the past two seasons).

“We still feel we have three viable options in net and comfortable with either one of them,” Lalonde said.

He said the key for Husso is just playing games after he missed most of last season with a pair of injuries.

“Seeing game action is a lot different,” Lalonde said. “Looking at the big picture, really good exhibition … So, it’s just getting him some rhythm.”

The Red Wings had an optional skate today and Lalonde said there could be a couple other lineup changes due to a flu bug going around the room.

A forward might be unavailable, necessitating a recall from Grand Rapids. Justin Holl, who cleared waivers earlier this month, might need to be sent down to clear the cap space/roster spot for a forward to come up.