Red Wings’ Alex Lyon Earns Victory over Flyers in Return From IR
It was a victory on multiple fronts for the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday at Little Caesars Arena.
Prior to puck drop against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Red Wings announced the return of goaltender Alex Lyon, activating him off injured reserve. He had missed almost three weeks due to a lower-body injury, playing his last game on November 25th.
Lyon, making just his ninth start of the season, stopped 15 of the 19 shots he faced in his return and earned a 6-4 victory over the Flyers. He’s now won three straight, dating back to his November 21st outing versus the New York Islanders.
Detroit fell behind 1-0 just over a minute into the contest, as Travis Konecny opened the scoring with a backhand shot past Lyon. After J.T. Compher evened the score with a power-play marker late in the first, Alex DeBrincat made it 2-1 midway through the middle frame.
But that lead was short lived, with Noah Cates knotting the game at two goals apiece just over 30 seconds later. Fortunately, the Red Wings ultimately answered back with a pair of goals, the first from Michael Rasmussen and the other from Joe Veleno, taking a two-goal edge into the third period.
Philadelphia’s skaters, however, needed less than six minutes to even the score following two unanswered goals from Ryan Poehling and Owen Tippett. Lyon shut the door from thereon out, though.
Close to two minutes after Tippett’s marker, Moritz Seider sprung Patrick Kane on a rush into the offensive zone for a scoring opportunity, and he took full advantage, firing a shot past Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson to put his team ahead.
Kane’s fourth goal of 2024-25 ended up being the game-winner, with Lucas Raymond adding an empty-netter to seal the victory in front of the home crowd.
It was an important win, both for Detroit and Lyon, who had gotten off to an impressive start before hitting the shelf. In 10 games this season, he owns a 2.88 goals-against average, a .903 save percentage and one shutout, recording a 5-4-0 record.
The 32-year-old netminder is in the final season of a two-year, $1.8-million contract and will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. He’ll likely be an attractive trade target closer to the March 7th trade deadline if the Red Wings remain out of the playoff picture by then.
Injuries have ravaged Detroit’s crease this season, with Lyon and Cam Talbot – sidelined since December 12th with a lower-body injury but briefly skated during Tuesday’s practice – each missing considerable time. But there’s a chance both could be available for this weekend’s home-and-home series against the Montreal Canadiens.
“That was planned timing with him [Talbot] on practice today,” head coach Derek Lalonde told reporters Tuesday. “I do not see him available for Wednesday, but we hope he’ll be available for Friday. I think that’s trending pretty well.”
Talbot’s inaugural campaign with Detroit was off to a strong start, posting a 2.69 GAA and .916 SV% with one shutout over his first 16 games with the club. He arrived on a two-year, $2.5-million deal signed in free agency last summer.
The Red Wings may soon face a tough decision regarding their goaltending situation, as they’ll have three healthy netminders on their active roster once Talbot returns, joining Lyon and Ville Husso – who’s assumed most of the starting reps in their absences.
Detroit could assign Husso back to the AHL – or keep all three goalies – without first exposing him to waivers after he cleared earlier this season.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: SecretName101. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.