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The Detroit Red Wings had a choice to make this past offseason following the acquisition of goaltender John Gibson from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Petr Mrazek.
Either they re-sign Alex Lyon to another short-term contract and continue rolling forward with three goaltenders on the roster as they had done for much of the previous two seasons, or they could allow veteran Cam Talbot to battle it out with Gibson for the starting role.
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They chose the former, and Lyon’s time with the club ended. He decided to join his third Atlantic Divison team, signing a two-year, $3 million contract with the Buffalo Sabres.
While Buffalo’s start to the season was inconsistent, they caught fire midway through December and remained one of the NHL’s hottest clubs all the way through the Stanley Cup Playoffs, for which they qualified for the first time since 2011.
Lyon, who broke the Buffalo club record by Hall of Famer (and former Red Wing) Dominik Hasek for most consecutive regular-season wins, has posted elite numbers so far in the playoffs.
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Lyon, who replaced Ukko-Pekka Lukkonen during their opening round series victory over the Boston Bruins, currently boasts an impressive 1.30 goals-against average and a .950 save percentage through six games, in which he’s gone 4-1.
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His goals-against average and save percentage are both second overall among NHL playoff goalies behind only Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen, who has gone a perfect 7-0.
Lyon has bounced around the NHL throughout his career, having played with both the Philadelphia Flyers and Hurricanes before joining the Panthers. He was their initial postseason starter in 2023 for what would be the first of three straight trips for the club to the Stanley Cup Final before eventually being replaced by Sergei Bobrovsky.
Following that run, he signed a two-year contract with the Red Wings, and went 35-27-6 across 74 total contests, racking up a 2.96 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage.
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