The Red Wings practiced on Friday after dropping a 6-3 decision to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, and the team will recall Justin Holl to substitute for the injured Jeff Petry, and Cam Talbot will start against the Nashville Predators tomorrow (7 PM EDT start on Bally Sports Detroit/Bally Sports South).
After Friday’s practice, forward Joe Veleno and coach Derek Lalonde spoke with the media, and the Free Press’s Helene St. James addressed the Wings’ decision to recall Holl:
“[Jeff Petry]’s day-to-day,” coach Derek Lalonde said Friday. “We’ll get through tomorrow and see if he’s available for Monday. We’re going to get Justin up, because we’ll need the righty there.”
With Petry sidelined, Moritz Seider and Holl are the only righties available. But that doesn’t mean rookie Albert Johansson won’t get a look — maybe as soon as this weekend.
“We might see Albert tomorrow,” Lalonde said. “We haven’t decided on that yet. But I’d like to get him in soon, kind of get him some game feel here.”
The Wings (0-1-0) could opt to use 11 forwards and seven defensemen against the Predators. That would also ease the pressure on seeing what a defenseman can do in what would be Johansson’s NHL debut.
Update: Here’s a bit more on Johansson from the Hockey News’s Sam Stockton;
However, [coach Lalonde] also noted that the Red Wings would look at getting Albert Johansson (a healthy scratch last night) into the lineup for his NHL debut. “I’d like to get Albert in,” Lalonde said. “Might see Albert tomorrow. We haven’t decided on that yet, but I would like to try to get him in soon in the season, kinda get him some game feel here.”
When asked what he likes about Johansson’s game, Lalonde replied, “the way he moves the puck, good hockey sense.” “I like what I saw at the end of last year [in Grand Rapids], and it’s translated pretty much to pre-season,” continued Lalonde. “Maybe tomorrow, may not be tomorrow, but I think we’re gonna get him in here pretty soon to see how he handles a real NHL game.”
