As Red Wings prepare for Flyers, Talbot and Lyon return to practice on Wednesday

DETROIT – Having two days between games for the first time since Nov. 18-21, the Detroit Red Wings practiced at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center on Wednesday afternoon after an off-day on Tuesday.

“It’s been a lot of games recently, which is fun,” Lucas Raymond said. “It’s nice. I’d rather have it that way, getting a crack at it every other night. But obviously, getting a day off and getting the mind and body to kind of relax a little bit is nice. We’ll be ready to go again tomorrow [against the Philadelphia Flyers].”

As the Red Wings trek deeper into the season, head coach Derek Lalonde said it’s important to be mindful while embracing the grind of an 82-game schedule.

“It’s that balance of needing to get better with reps but having some energy,” Lalonde said. “I think our guys have handled it well. You saw today’s practice, it was probably a little more intense and longer than we’ve had of late, but that’s off a day off, so I think you can get away with that a little bit. But there’s a reality to it, especially as we’re trying to build our game, that balance.”

Lalonde also provided post-practice updates on goalies Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon, both of whom were back on the ice on Wednesday. Both dealing with lower-body injuries, Talbot last started on Dec. 1 and Lyon on Nov. 25.

“We’re hoping to have Talbot for tomorrow,” Lalonde said. “We’re going to see how he responds from practice today, haven’t got that report yet. Alex Lyon will still be a couple days away, so that’s where we’re at.”

After Wednesday’s practice, netminder prospect Sebastian Cossa was assigned to the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins. Originally recalled to Detroit on Dec. 2, Cossa made his highly-anticipated NHL debut on Monday, turning aside 12 shots in relief of netminder Ville Husso to help the Red Wings beat the Buffalo Sabres in a shootout, 6-5.

Lalonde said he believes Cossa’s first NHL stint was “a huge step in his development.”

“What an experience,” Lalonde said. “Obviously, the games helped, but the process over the games and being around, getting to know teammates, you can’t get much more of a pinnacle or high in his game. But you can see, watching his game back, he did look a little rattled in there. He had trouble finding pucks, but he got the job done.

“I was watching the NHL last night, it kind of put in perspective when Vancouver’s goalie [Thatcher Demko] comes back and he’s talking about how overwhelmed he felt and how fast it was, and this is an NHL All-Star. So, you can just imagine what it felt like for Cossa to play at that level.”

Lalonde added that he expects Cossa to bring confidence and pace back with him to the AHL, where the former No. 15 overall pick from the 2021 NHL Entry Draft has a 9-4-1 record with a 2.21 goals-against average, .925 save percentage and one shutout in 14 games this season.

“I think he goes down with almost a confidence of, ‘Hey, I got my win up there, I can do it,’” Lalonde said. “It’s interesting, the game looked a little overwhelming for him. You can tell late, when we tied it up [at 4-4] and [the Sabres] sent a harmless wrist shot from distance and he couldn’t find it, it hits the crossbar in the middle of the net. That’s something when he’s up to pace is an easy chest save, but he looked most comfortable when he got in the shootout. He was calmed down, there’s no traffic, it’s mano versus mano.”