Stop me if you've heard this one before, but a former Philadelphia Flyers goalie is dominating for one of the NHL's hottest teams, and it may not be who you expect.
The Flyers were, at one point, one of those teams, though Dan Vladar has since gotten injured and slowed down overall.
They now find themselves five points back of the second wildcard spot and two points off third in the Metropolitan Division; either result would be satisfactory.
But, over the last few weeks, the once-lowly Buffalo Sabres exploded into third in the Atlantic Division from the bottom of the Eastern Conference, buoyed by a 10-game win streak that carried them into the New Year.
Leading the charge has been ex-Flyers goalie Alex Lyon, who signed with Buffalo this past offseason.
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Lyon, 33, has racked up an impressive 12-6-3 record for the Sabres this season to the tune of a 2.70 GAA and .911 save percentage, complemented by two shutouts.
For the sake of comparison, Lyon won a career-high 21 games with Detroit in 2023-24 and now has a clear opportunity to set a new personal best, so long as he can fend off Sabres teammates Colten Ellis and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for ice time.
Lyon shouldn't have too much of an issue doing that if he keeps up the way he's been playing, though.
Dating back to Dec. 9, the 6-foot-1 netminder has won nine straight appearances, and eight straight starts, including a 24-save effort in a 5-3 win against the Flyers on Dec. 18.
Flyers' High-Upside Prospect Changes Teams to Salvage Lost SeasonHaving played just 35 total games across the last two seasons, a high-upside <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers">Philadelphia Flyers</a> draft pick has made a move and decided to change teams in order to salvage a lost season of development.
Lyon did do his old Flyers club a favor by posting a 26-save shutout of the New York Islanders on Sunday in just his second game of January, but, with how inconsistent Sam Ersson and Aleksei Kolosov have been behind Vladar, we can be sure the Flyers would just prefer to have Lyon on their roster helping them directly instead of indirectly.
Anyhow, the Sabres have quickly become the story of the NHL this season after transforming a dismal start into a chance to become a rousing success should they reach the postseason.
Lyon, even through injury and a three-goalie rotation, has been at the forefront of that transformation.