George Richards, FHN Publisher
Alex Lyon said he found out he would be starting for the Florida Panthers in Toronto the night before what with Sergei Bobrovsky dealing with some sort of illness.
So, Lyon had a lot of time to think about what this start meant to both himself and the Panthers even if he will not admit it publically.
”To me, it was just another game,’’ he said.
Well, forget all the humble stuff.
Lyon not only helped save the Panthers on Wednesday but he may have helped salvage their season with 38 saves in a 3-2 overtime win against the powerhouse Toronto Maple Leafs.
We shall see how this works out, but the Panthers woke up this morning a point out of the playoffs.
If things go their way today — they win in Montreal and Pittsburgh loses to Nashville — and Florida is back holding a playoff position.
After the way this team played for much of the night, Lyon was the only one keeping them in it. And then they won it.
Do not be shocked that tonight, when the Panthers skate out onto the ice in Montreal, that it is Lyon leading them.
He certainly deserves it.
The Panthers certainly have to give love to Sam Reinhart for knocking in a shot from Aaron Ekblad to force overtime and snap the team’s four-game pointless streak.
Then Brandon Montour won it in overtime, putting an end to the team’s season-long four-game losing streak.
But those guys would not have been in that position if it were not for Alex Lyon standing on his head.
”Bob is playing so hard and so well for us and he was feeling a little under the weather,’’ Lyon said. “My job, quite literally, is to stay ready as the third goalie. Now I am the backup in this situation. I tried to stay ready. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes it doesn’t. You have to appreciate that as well.’’
Wednesday went well.
Of the 40 shots on goal taken by the high-octane Leafs, Lyon only gave up one clean one.
That was a blast off the stick of Auston Matthews. No shame in that game. The other goal came on a deflection in front of the net.
That is all the Maple Leafs got against a guy who was signed to be the team’s starting goalie in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Now, here he is, being asked to help keep the team in the playoff race and snap a season-long four-game losing streak. Oh, and do so against the Maple Leafs.
”I don’t get too worked up anymore,’’ said Lyon, who helped lead the Carolina Hurricanes’ Chicago Wolves to the AHL title last summer for his first hockey championship.
”I don’t want to say I have seen it or done it all, but I spent a lot of time in the American League and played a lot of games. You have to learn to block out things and the only thing that matters is stopping the puck. I was trying to focus on that.
”I have to give credit to my guys. Yeah, they got their shots, but we were able to keep them to the outside. I don’t know how many Grade-A chances they had. Major shoutout to the guys.”
Lyon has mentioned a few times that goaltending, for him, is more than just stopping pucks here and there. He is looking for his next job — he mentioned being “able to eat” in Wednesday’s postgame — and it may just be right here with the Panthers.
With Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight in net to start this season, it was not known whether Lyon would have even left Charlotte for Sunrise.
But this is his second true stint as the backup goalie and he has saved Florida’s bacon a few times.
Before the All-Star break with Knight going through something and Bobrovsky nursing an injury, Lyon carried the Panthers in and got them a huge win against the Boston Bruins before he headed back to the minors.
In this second run as Bobrovsky’s backup, Wednesday night was only his second start. The first one did not go great but this one sure did.
Lyon was, for much of the night, simply terrific.
And the Panthers needed him to be.
“You guys saw it,” Sasha Barkov said. “He gave us every chance, every chance, for us to win that game. He stopped the penalty shot, made saves in overtime. The whole game. He is the type of guy who brings the joy into the locker room.
“He is the kind of guy you want to play good in front of him. We could have done a better job in front of him, but he did not need it.”