Red Wings turn to James Reimer as Canadiens visit

The Detroit Red Wings started the season 5-1. The last two weeks have been a much tougher stretch, as they’ve gone 2-4-1.They will host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, and the outcome could alter their goaltending situation.Ville Husso has received a majority of the starts, but he has a 3.57 goals-against average and a .890 save percentage. James Reimer, who has a 1.52 GAA and .944 save percentage, will make his fifth start of the season against the Canadiens.Another strong effort from Reimer may force coach Derek Lalonde to re-think his goaltender rotation.”We’re still going to re-evaluate the whole goalie big picture after (Thursday’s) game,” Lalonde said after Wednesday’s practice.Reimer, who has been in the league since the 2010-11 season, was signed as a free agent to back up Husso.”As a goaltender, you just want to give the boys a chance,” Reimer said. “You want to fight for them. The way these guys compete and battle, it makes it easy for us to get in the game and want to be the difference.”With Husso patrolling the net, the Wings lost 5-3 to the New York Rangers on Tuesday. It wasn’t as close as the score would indicate, as Detroit trailed 5-0 after the second period.”We’ve leaving (Husso) out to dry, for sure,” Detroit defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere said.However, Husso’s numbers need to improve if he is to remain the No. 1 goaltender.”Look at our goaltending on a whole, we are almost at the bottom of the entire league in all statistical categories,” Lalonde said. “That said, full confidence in Ville, love how he’s battling.”

Playlist