Buffalo, NY (WGR 550) – New Buffalo Sabres goaltender Alex Lyon played with two former Sabres goaltenders in James Reimer and Dustin Tokarski. Lyon was with Reimer in Detroit while it was 2017-18 when Lyon was with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and paired with Tokarski.

Lyon of course did his homework before signing with Buffalo he credits those two goaltenders in helping him decide that this was a fit,

“What actually swayed my decision the most was I had spoken to James Reimer and Dustin Tokarski who were there the last two years and they both spoke very highly of it and they said it’s a great spot to be for a goalie and they both really enjoyed their experience, so that was big for me.

“I think that the team is dangerous offensively, I’ve been on the wrong end of that and you might remember a 7-1 beating last season in Keybank Center, so I’m just excited to be there.”

Lyon played 30 and 44 games with the Red Wings the past two seasons, but his career high in NHL games had been just 15 when he got red hot for the Florida Panthers in 2022-23 vaulting them into the playoffs. He should get a chance to play games in Buffalo and said,

“I think Buffalo is a good fit for me in how I like to operate. I’m a small town guy, so I’m excited to be here.”

Lyon has played 73 of his 113 NHL games in the past two seasons. The 32-year-old said he regrets, not realizing what he needed to do when he was younger,

“Maybe I didn’t do enough early in my career to earn an opportunity and then I figured things out and matured and my habits got better and then I think things started to take off.”

Lyon spent a lot of time in the American Hockey League after the Philadelphia Flyers signed him in April of 2016 just after his college season ended at Yale where he played three seasons. The breakthrough came in 2021-22 after he signed with the Carolina Hurricanes. Lyon went down and played for the Chicago Wolves and backstopped them to a Calder Cup Championship. Lyon went 18-7-3 with a 2.16 goals against and .912 save percentage.

It was the next year in Florida with the Panthers where he got red hot at the end of the season and led the Panthers to the playoff by one point over the Sabres. Lyon won six straight games starting on March 29. His goals against was 1.50 and his save percentage was .956. Lyon said it just went his way at the biggest time of the season,

“I don’t think I realized this at the time, but I was probably a sleeping monster and things just clicked for us really well, so maybe I just provided some stability and they latched onto it around me.”

Lyon has been through so much that he can be a big help for a youngster like Devon Levi. Lyon said he wasn’t always that helpful,

“I’m a big believer that goalies have to support goalies and there’s a time in my life where I didn’t treat the other goalies that well and it was a mistake. You have to support each other because the reality is in an 82-game season, you need both guys to be going and those guys are just starting out and they’ve got a long path ahead of them and the curve is different for everybody, but those guys are both so talented and they both move so well.

“I can’t wait to be in the room with them and help them and they’re here to help me and we’re going to push each other.”

In the second last week of the 2022-23 season, Levi was just out of college and starting games down the stretch trying to get the Sabres into the playoffs. Buffalo was in Sunrise to play the Panthers and Florida won that game 2-1 behind Lyon making 39 saves. Levi was strong too, stopping 36 pucks and Lyon said he was trying to match Levi save for save.

Lyon said being only 26-years-old, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen still has his best days ahead of him,

“For most guys you really don’t understand your game that well until you’re between 26 and 29, so I didn’t figure it out until a little bit later.”

Lyon will most likely be paired with Luukkonen to start the season.