Behind Alex Lyon's ascension to Detroit Red Wings' No. 1 goalie spot: 'He's sparked us'
LOS ANGELES — The Detroit Red Wings' decision to make room for Alex Lyon coming into the season has never looked better.
The 31-year-old is a big reason why the Wings take their first winning streak in a month into Sunday's California-trip finale at the Anaheim Ducks, and why they've won three of their past four games.
"He has such a compete about it," coach Derek Lalonde said after Lyon's 40-save performance in Thursday's 4-3 shootout victory at the Los Angeles Kings. "The guys love playing for him and they want to give back a little bit, too, because he’s always battling. He’s sparked us, that’s three of four now since he’s been back in. Good on him."
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Lyon has ascended from No. 3 on the depth chart coming into the season — he didn't play his first game until five weeks in — to No. 1, a spot that, at the very least, is his until Ville Husso is healthy and begins a comeback. Husso hasn't played since suffering a lower-body injury Dec. 18. Lalonde said last week Husso could be back on the ice "soon," but for now, it's Lyon's net. James Reimer, whose early-season success (1.80 goals-against average, .933 save percentage in his first five starts) has degenerated into a slump (4.74 GAA, .861 save percentage in his past seven games) isn't likely to see the net until the next back-to-back, coming Jan. 13-14.
It's a remarkable story for Lyon, and reinforcement for his patience as his only action the first five weeks was to dress as the backup Oct. 28 at Boston.
"Whether it was six weeks or two months or three months, it’s in the same vein — you just have to believe in yourself," Lyon said. "I felt like coming out of last year I had the confidence, and the more games I play, the more I learn. Not to say it’s going to be easy moving forward, but that belief in myself has gone a long way for sure."
Lyon (2.56 GAA, .919 save percentage in 11 games) made his first appearance Nov. 17 in the second of the Global Series games in Stockholm. The Wings lost, but Lyon's 29-save performance earned him another start in the Wings' first game back in North America, which he won in a shutout. From there, he and Husso rotated starts until injuries felled both right before the Christmas break.
Lyon was a free agent last summer, after a short but stellar run last spring with the Florida Panthers, when he went 6-1-1 with a 1.87 GAA and .943 save percentage down the stretch. That upped his NHL resume to 39 career games and led the Wings to sign him for two years at what now looks like a bargain $1.8 million. Lyon and Reimer (one year, $1.5 million) were added at the start of free agency to add depth in net.
That stretch with the Panthers boosted the Yale alumnus' self confidence after a career largely spent in the minors.
"I’ve never really had a stretch where it’s like hey, go ahead and do it," he said. "To have the ability to be the only guy, we really didn’t have any options left, so I was like, all right, I’m just going to say screw it and bring my game. It’s just about sticking on the details, working extremely hard and that’s what we have to do."
The Kings game could easily have gone awry after they scored on their first two chances — the first was a tip-in, but the second was a rebound that Lyon should have had. After that, he was excellent.
"He kept us in there," Lalonde said. "As good as our second period was, he made some big saves in it. As good as our third period was, he made some big saves in it. As good as our overtime was, he made some big saves in it and got us to the shootout and we cashed in there."
The outing was indicative of why Lyon has risen to the top spot with the Wings: "It would have been a bit nicer if I could have made it easier on myself, and the team, but that’s just the name of the game," he said. "There’s going to be highs, there’s going to be lows, and we’ll have lows going forward and we’ll have highs going forward. The ability to remain in calm in pressure situations is vital."
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Alex Lyon emerges as Detroit Red Wings' No. 1 goaltender (for now)
