Amid highs and lows, Lyon focused on maintaining 'that even keel'

DETROIT – Goalie Alex Lyon has learned a lot since beginning his professional hockey career in 2016, when he signed with the Philadelphia Flyers as a 23-year-old undrafted free agent.

And when reflecting on his journey during the first season of a two-year deal he signed with the Detroit Red Wings this summer, the now 31-year-old Lyon believes the most important lesson he’s learned is the value of mental toughness.

“I think as a goalie, as you get older, you have the ability to separate yourself from the results,” Lyon said on Dec. 28. “And that’s ultimately what you’re trying to get to because if you let in a bunch of goals one night, you want to have the ability to bounce back the next day.

“You got to look at the big picture. My goal and thought process is if I can work as hard as I can, it’s going to resonate with the team, gives people confidence and is just a good baseline for me.”

Sharing the Red Wings’ crease with goaltenders Ville Husso and James Reimer this season, Lyon has stepped up when called upon. Although he didn’t make his first start until Nov. 17, Husso being placed on injured reserve on Dec. 20 increased Lyon’s workload dramatically.

Starting his sixth consecutive game on Thursday, Lyon made 44 saves in Detroit’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers at Little Caesars Arena. In 13 games this season, Lyon has an 8-4-1 record with a 2.54 goals-against average, .922 save percentage and one shutout.

Lyon said this is the most confident he’s felt at the NHL level.

“But I guess I really don’t think about it like that anymore,” Lyon said on Thursday. “I really don’t get too wrapped up in it. It’s going to fall the other way eventually, that’s just the nature of the goalie position. You try to ride the highs as long as you can and then when the lows happen, you just got to maintain that even keel. That’s my focus right now and I’m just trying to help the team, provide whatever I can.”

Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde said he appreciates Lyon’s tenacity, especially after playing a bigger role unexpectedly.

“He has such a compete (level),” Lalonde said after Lyon’s 40-save performance in a 4-3 shootout road win over the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 4. “The guys love playing for him and they want to give back a little bit too, because he’s always battling.”

Forward Robby Fabbri said Lyon brings a big-play ability between the pipes.

“He’s always making that extra save that sparks the bench,” Fabbri said about Lyon on Jan. 4.

Last season, Lyon posted a 9-4-2 record with a 2.89 GAA, .912 SV% and one shutout in 15 games with the Florida Panthers. After illness briefly sidelined Panthers starting goalie Sergei Bobrovsky on March 29, Lyon emerged as a key late-season contributor by winning six straight starts, helping Florida stay in the Eastern Conference playoff race before the club’s impressive run to the 2023 Stanley Cup Final.

In four postseason games, Lyon was 1-2 with a 3.63 GAA and .888 SV%.

“You just have to believe in yourself,” Lyon said. “I just felt like especially coming out of last year, I had confidence and learned a bit more. The more games I played, the more I learned. Not going to say it’s going to be easy moving forward, but I think that belief in myself has gone a long way.”

For Lyon, being heavily relied upon during a pivotal stretch for the Panthers last season was an important step in his development.

“I’ve never really had a stretch where it’s like hey, go ahead and do it,” Lyon 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 that I always had in the American League. Finally able to translate that and mentally get over that hump, so it’s just about sticking on the details, working extremely hard and that’s what (the Red Wings) have to continue to do.”

Lyon has also compiled a 106-70-19 record with a 2.62 GAA, .912 SV% and 10 shutouts in 202 American Hockey League games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Chicago Wolves and Charlotte Checkers since 2016-17.

And because of his wide array of professional hockey experience, Lyon said he knows what it takes to be a successful NHL goalie.

“If you go into any game or situation thinking it’s going to be simple and easy, that’s when you get smacked in the face,” Lyon said. “You have to go in with full preparation, that killer attitude and just keep going.”