Detroit Red Wings goaltender Ville Husso leaves game with lower-body injury

Despite looking well-equipped in between the pipes, the Detroit Red Wings’ goaltenders are starting to drop like flies.

Late in the opening period of a game against the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night, Ville Husso had to leave after suffering a lower-body injury.

The incident happened during a mad scramble on a Detroit penalty kill. Husso stretched out to his right to make a save on a point-blank attempt by the Ducks’ Jakob Silfverberg. Once the play came to an end, the 28-year-old had to be helped off the ice.

Husso was unable to put any weight onto his right leg. While it can assumed it is a groin injury, the Red Wings have yet to announce the extent of his injury.

Veteran James Reimer came into the game, with Detroit already down 2-0. Anaheim’s Adam Henrique quickly scored a power play goal into his relief effort, with the Ducks leading by three after 20 minutes.

It has been a rough couple of days for the Wings. In their last game on Saturday against the Philadelphia Flyers, Alex Lyon suffered an oblique injury after making a great save, forcing Husso to come into the game. Lyon is considered week-to-week.

Husso was banged up in his first season in Detroit last year, including suffering a lower-body injury in late March that held him out for a couple of games.

The former St. Louis Blue was 9-5-2 so far this year, with a 3.47 goals-against average and .895 save-percentage.

In the meantime, the Red Wings are most likely going to have to call someone up. The only goaltenders under NHL contract are Sebastian Cossa (AHL, Grand Rapids) and John Lethemon (ECHL, Toledo). Neither have been called up to Detroit.

The Grand Rapids Griffins recently signed former NHLer Michael Hutchinson to a one-year AHL contract, after playing the first month-and-a-half on a PTO. The former Toronto Maple Leaf has played the majority of the games alongside Cossa so far.

The injury woes could not come at a worse time for the Wings. They are currently fourth in the Atlantic Division with 34 points, battling for the last Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. They are four points back of the Florida Panthers for third in the division, and nine back of the first-place Boston Bruins.