Sean Shapiro spoke with Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon about his status as the team’s de-facto third goaltender recently:
“I was super fortunate basically through the lifespan of my career when the third goalie became more important,” Lyon said. “The importance of that position is high in NHL organizations and I found out that I’ve carved out a career from being able to succeed when put in difficult situations, I take pride in that.”
Lyon was the No. 3 goalie for the Florida Panthers last season, spent most of the season in the AHL, and was called upon to rescue Florida’s season when Sergei Bobrovsky struggled.
Lyon started the Panthers final eight regular season games, went 6-1-1 and posted a .943 save percentage to help Florida scrap and claw into the playoffs. While he ceded the net back to Bobrovsky in the first round against the Boston Bruins, the Panthers run the Stanley Cup final was impossible without Lyon’s regular season contribution.
Several teams took note of it when Lyon was an unrestricted free agent this summer, and he picked Detroit, even with the Red Wings signing Reimer, because Steve Yzerman was willing to offer a multi-year, one-way deal worth $900,000 per season.
“It’s security at the end of the day, a one-year deal actually has it’s benefits, but it also has it’s cons,” Lyon said. “Given the season I had last year, I thought it was time to capitalize and maximize my situation. That’s how I looked at the business of this.”
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