BUFFALO — When the Sabres signed goalie Alex Lyon as a free agent last summer, they likely envisioned an important but secondary role for the veteran journeyman.
In addition to serving as Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s backup, he could push the Finn and provide some internal competition, perhaps steal some playing time.
The Sabres thought highly enough of Lyon, a fierce competitor, that they awarded him a two-year, $3 million contract.
But no one likely expected he would emerge as the Sabres’ backbone during one of the greatest stretches in franchise history and perform so dynamically he would break a record that had lasted for 49 years.
Lyon, 33, dazzled again in Thursday’s 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings, making 37 saves to record his 10th consecutive win and surpass the mark Gerry Desjardins set in December 1976.
“Incredible accomplishment, really,” coach Lindy Ruff said following the Sabres’ fifth straight win and 20th in their last 24 games. “Think about it, road wins, winning 10 straight games, that’s a great accomplishment on his part.
“He’s battled hard since Day One of camp, coming in and understanding it’s more of a backup role but then stepping in and doing an unbelievable job and getting on the run he’s on. It’s a credit to him.”
Not even the legendary Dominik Hasek, who’s in town and chatted with Lyon following the game in KeyBank Center, rattled off 10 straight victories during his illustrious career.
“It’s awesome to be a part of the history, but when you’re stacked up against guys like Ryan Miller and, obviously, Hasek, those were the guys that I idolized growing up,” Lyon said. “So I’m certainly not going to put myself anywhere near the conversation with those guys.”
Lyon might downplay his accomplishment, but he’s playing as well as any NHL goalie right now, having compiled a 10-0-0 mark with a 1.94 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage since Dec. 9.
The American oozes confidence on the ice, just like his teammates, reading plays and often making saves look easy.
A team that struggled for two months and appeared to be out of the playoff chase by the second week of December now has the grandest of goals.
Simply ending the NHL-record 14-year playoff drought won’t be enough.
“We’re coming in with a lot of confidence,” said Sabres winger Alex Tuch, who scored his fourth career hat trick. “Everybody’s coming in trying to prove themselves, and we’re trying to prove as a team that we’re legit.
“We’re not just gonna go for the playoffs, we’re gonna go for the (Stanley) Cup, and that’s our goal: get better each and every day.”
If Lyon keeps performing at an elite level, the Sabres will have a chance every night. Luukkonen suffered a lower-body injury in Tuesday’s 7-4 road win over the Toronto Maple Leafs and will be sidelined at least a week.
So instead of sharing time with Luukkonen, Lyon will likely earn most of the starts.
“He’s feeling it right now,” Tuch said. “I mean, every save looks so easy for him, and when you have guys like that backstopping behind you, you get all the confidence in the world. Even when you have a breakdown, we know that he’s there to help us out. … Really proud of him.”
Tuch said Lyon is “a little bit crazy.”
“And it’s a good crazy, so it’s good to have on our side,” he said. “He’s not the biggest guy, he’s not the most athletic guy, he hasn’t taken the most direct route, but he’s here, he comes to work, he has a lot of fun doing it and, man, he’s a hell of a goalie.”
Lyon simply wants to keep replicating what has been working for him.
“If you got the recipe leading up to the game, you got to just cradle that and not mess around with that,” he said. “But I think at the same time … you can’t be fearful of losing that game. And I think that’s one thing I’ve gotten better at in my career is when you have the ups … you got to worry about the downs.”
Tuch extended his goal streak to three games and surpassed the 20-goal mark for the fourth straight season. He scored an early power-play goal and completed the hat trick into an empty net before the capacity crowd of 19,070 fans.
Defenseman Mattias Samuelsson scored the Sabres’ other goal and extended his point streak to a career-long five games. Winger Jack Quinn recorded three assists.