Red Wings Hope Alex Lyon Can Befuddle His Former Team

The Detroit Red Wings gave up five goals in a game for only the second time this calendar year and no one is blaming goalie Alex Lyon.

“Obviously, not the best by Alex,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “I don’t know if I can fault him on anything. We look back on that game, it’s probably the first time in a long time their goalie outplayed our goalie. I think that speaks volumes about Alex and James (Reimer). It’s just one of those nights. But full confidence with him.”

Lalonde said Lyon will start Saturday against the Florida Panthers, the team  he played for last season.

“This might be the best team in the league,” Lalonde said. “It’s playing itself out like that.”

Lyon is Mr. Consistency

This will be Lyon’s 30th appearance. He will have twice as many games than he has played in any previous NHL season.

Lyon gave up four goals on 26 shots — the Red Wings also surrendered an empty-netter — against the Islanders. It was only only the sixth time in 29 starts that Lyon has given up four or more goals in a game. That means Lyon has yielded three or fewer goals in 79.3% of his starts.

#RedWings lines look the same in practice before hosting Florida tomorrow at 3 on ABC:
DeBrincat-Larkin-Kane
Rasmussen-Compher-Raymond
Veleno-Copp-Perron
Fabbri-Fischer-Sprong
Kostin (extra)
Walman-Seider
Chiarot-Petry
Maatta-Gostisbehere
Holl (extra)
Lyon/Reimer pic.twitter.com/Vzfc9Y6SXd

— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) March 1, 2024

“We have to be smart about managing it,” Lalonde said. “Gave James (Reimer) a couple of spot starts which he won and played well. But (Lyon’s) such a cerebral guy, goaltender, the way he looks at the position. Basically, he’s relating all these experiences to the success he had in the American Hockey League. This workload would be nothing for him in the American Hockey League and it’s a lot different there. You get some tough travel, some tough back to backs. But he’s relating to it at the NHL level. We got to be smart with how we handle him and he’s got to be smart with his approach, too.”

Lyon is one of the primary reasons the Red Wings are currently in a playoff position. The team has benefited greatly from his consistency and composure. His .912 save percentage spliced neatly into Lalonde’s push to have an improved defensive commitment.

Started The Season at No. 3

Remember, Lyon only received a chance to play because Ville Husso‘s wife was going to give birth to their child and Husso had to fly to Detroit from Sweden.

“Alex Lyon’s been great all for us when he got the chance,” Detroit captain Dylan Larkin said. “He’s really won us some hockey games. ”

The Red Wings are hoping for a big game from Lyon against a Panthers team that has won nine of their last 10 games.

“We know it’s gonna be a battle,” Larkin said. “We’ve risen to the occasion this year with top teams…It’s gonna be a great atmosphere. We are going to have to be ready to bring the battle to them. I expect it to be like a playoff game.