Anthony Mazziotti
The Flyers beat the Rangers 7-4 at Madison Square Garden Sunday afternoon to inch closer to the top seed in the Metropolitan Division. In doing so, they lost their backup goaltender Michal Neuvirth to a lower-body injury.
Michal Neuvirth may have been injured on the Zuccarello goal. pic.twitter.com/P6i96rR8Pe
— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) February 18, 2018
Neuvirth with a lower-body injury and will not return.
— Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) February 18, 2018
When Neuvy left with injury the game was tied 3-3. Alex Lyon made 25 of 26 saves in two periods of work.
The bad news here is glaring: the Flyers have roughly 4-5 weeks before their workhorse goaltender is back and their backup is now out for an indefinite time with a lower-body injury. This leaves the Flyers with Alex Lyon, a 25-year old with four NHL games under his belt. While he’s showed he can be capable in net this is hardly the best thing for a Flyers team vying to make waves in the postseason.
Neuvirth’s injury puts General Manager Ron Hextall in a tough situation. Do you buy high on a backup goaltender to tandem the next four-five weeks with Alex Lyon until Brian Elliott comes back? Do you roll with what you have and hope the team can rally behind Alex Lyon and stay in a good position? Do you get a lesser known backup as an insurance policy? The possibilities are endless and I do not envy Hexy one bit right now. With that said, if I were in Hexy’s shoes I would roll with Lyon for one simple reason: it’s what worked for the Eagles.
I know, it’s a totally different sport, but hear me out. First thing’s first: it’s clear that the Flyers are in dire need of a goaltender, the price for mediocrity is going to skyrocket knowing the Flyers’ situation. It’s clear that Hexy isn’t going to give in easily, he turned down an offer from the Redwings for Petr Mrazek. The Redwings wanted a third rounder for him, Hexy counter offered a fourth, and the Redwings said no.
Second thing: rolling with backups and living with a next man up mentality worked incredibly well for Doug Pederson and the Eagles. When the Birds lost their franchise left tackle they didn’t make a move for a different tackle at the trade deadline, they moved forward with a relatively unknown commodity and went on to win a Super Bowl. When Carson Wentz was injured they didn’t go out and sign a former star, they went with someone already in the system who eventually won Super Bowl MVP. When injuries happen and the team decides to play with backups it builds a stronger team. That sign of faith will help the team come together and rally behind each other. I’m not saying Alex Lyon will lead the Flyers to the Stanley Cup, but who knows what his ceiling is? He only has four games under his belt. There are three more games before the trade deadline, if I’m Ron Hextall I would roll the dice and see what Alex Lyon has in his next two starts.
Another reason to rally behind Alex Lyon: the Flyers offense has been red hot recently. In their last six games they put up 26 goals. The team is currently riding an eight-game point streak, earning 14 of a possible 16 points.
If that’s not enough to get you excited for the Lyon era, two years ago the Penguins were in a similar situation where they had to rely on their top AHL goaltender to lead them into the playoffs. They went on to win the Stanley Cup. Last year Matt Murray proved it wasn’t a fluke. Again, I’m not saying correlation equals causation, but there’s nothing saying he can’t do it either. If he can keep playing like this there’s no reason he can’t keep the Flyers in a good position for the next month or so:
— Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) February 18, 2018
What an incredible save by Alex Lyon! pic.twitter.com/8fMDmC7pyz
— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) February 18, 2018
The “Next Man Up” mantra has become a way of life for Philadelphia fans, there’s no reason to stray from that now. I’m ready to see what Alex Lyon has to offer. Barring something crazy happening he should start in net on Tuesday against the Canadiens.
You can follow Anthony Mazziotti on Twitter (@AntMazziotti) and e-mail him at [email protected].
Follow Philly Influencer on Twitter (@PHL_Influencer), Facebook and Instagram.