The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton provides personnel updates from Friday’s practice, noting that J.T. Compher will return to the lineup on Saturday vs. Tampa Bay, and that Alex Lyon will start, per coach Todd McLellan:
Per coach Todd McLellan, Compher “looks good” to return to the lineup Saturday. “I don’t know if he came off of IR yet or not, but I talked to him this morning. He feels good, so I don’t see any reason he doesn’t play,” the coach added.
At Friday’s practice, Compher practiced in a fourth line role between Joe Veleno and Jonatan Berggren. Based on McLellan’s post-practice assessment, it seems like a safe assumption that is where he will be for Saturday’s game.
McLellan also tapped Alex Lyon as Detroit’s starter in net for Saturday’s game, while also speaking to the luxury of having two goaltenders simultaneously in strong form. “I think it’s essential,” McLellan said, of having two reliable goaltending options in the modern NHL. “Often you have two goalies, [and] one’s maybe not playing as well, so you run the hot one, and you try to get the other one playing again. We’re fortunate that both are playing well and contributing to the team success. They play off each other. They both practice hard. We haven’t had to go and rescue a goalie yet, if I’m trying to find a word, to recover and rescue a goalie that maybe hasn’t played well and overrun another one. So that makes the dual goaltender luxury even better.”
