The Red Wings appreciate Alex Lyon's style as much as his results. He can bring calm to the most hectic situations. Lyon can stop the room from spinning.

Lyon has a quieting impact on the action. He also showed that last season with the Florida Panthers.

"He gets a whistle, doesn't give up a rebound, makes a proper play of a puck handle," Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. "It's been him for us. He takes away some of the chaos."

There’s something refreshingly genuine about the way Detroit Red Wings goalie Alex Lyon answers questions about himself or his team.

“It’s huge, huge,” Lyon said after a win against last-place San Jose 5-3 earlier this season. “I think we’re fighting for our lives. Every point is massive right now. Huge victory for us on the road. They played really hard tonight and I’m just super happy.”

Alex Lyon has gone from being the team’s No. 3 goalie to designated starter. This could be good news for Detroit. As of Feb. 29, Lyon was keeping opponents at three goals or fewer 82.1% (23 of 28 starts).

When he made his 29th start that night, he was almost doubling his previous  record for NHL starts in a season.

Detroit Hockey Now projects that Lyon will make 19 or 20 starts in Detroit’s last 24 games.

This is the first season of Lyon’s pro career that he hasn’t spent time in the American Hockey League.

"I think just as I get more comfortable in the NHL it gets a little simpler, not quite as going crazy all the time," Lyon said. "That being said, this is still a learning experience for me. I’m 31 but in some ways I feel like I’m a bit of a rookie, because I’ve been up and down, up and down. I was only in Florida for the last six weeks, two months last year. I’ve never had a full NHL schedule. The travel, it’s all new on me in some ways. And so I just find myself still adjusting a little but in that way. "

He made a career-high 15 starts last season when he played strong down the stretch to help the Florida Panthers earn the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The only other time he reached double figures in appearances was 2017-18 when he played 11 games for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Based on how Lyon played last season and this season for Detroit, Lyon could be  a quality goalie who has never received a true shot at playing very often. He plays with confidence and seems to have the kind of positive temperament that pleases coaches. He has been clear that he is ready to do whatever the Red Wings need him to do. They must have liked what they saw when he played for the Panthers because GM Steve Yzerman gave him a two-year deal.  He is clearly appreciative of receiving the chance to play.

“It’s awesome,” Lyon said. “Every goalie wants to play every night. I enjoy that. I like a big workload. It’s good. I feel like I’m connecting more and more with the team in every game. We’re kinda getting on the same page. We got two more huge games on the road. They’re not gonna be easy, so we gotta be ready.”

Alex Lyon 2023-24 NHL Notes

Feb. 27, 2024: Beat Washington 8-3 for his fourth consecutive win…Jan. 25, 2024. … Recorded his 2nd shutout of the season with 30 saves in a 3-0 win against Philadelphia. …Jan. 4, 2024: Made 44 saves in a 4-3 overtime win at Los Angeles. It was his sixth consecutive start. Dec. 16, 2023: injured in a game against Philadelphia, didn’t play for 13 days. …Nov. 22, 2023: Earned his first shutout as a Red Wings goalie with a 16-save effort to beat the New Jersey Devils, 4-0 in Lyon’s first home star. … Nov. 19, 2023: Played well in a 3-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs in Sweden. Lyon only got in the lineup because Ville Husso had to return to Detroit for the birth of a child. July 1, 2023: The Red Wings signed Lyon to a two-year contract at $900,000 per season.asdfasdf