Alex Lyon

Alex Lyon grew up in Baudette, Minnesota, playing alongside future NHL goaltender Charlie Lindgren — a connection that would later surface in an unexpected way when Lyon's Pro Reads debut at InGoal Magazine followed the same path as Lindgren's, the two Minnesota natives appearing in back-to-back sessions with the publication Alex Lyon Pro Reads 1.

Lyon, who stands 6'1" and weighs 199 pounds, is a left-catching goaltender currently with the Buffalo Sabres, wearing number 34. Born December 9, 1992, he is 33 years old. Through 149 NHL regular-season games in his career, he has posted 71 wins, 48 losses, 15 overtime losses, a 2.93 goals-against average, a .903 save percentage, and 7 shutouts. In the current 2025-26 season with Buffalo, he has appeared in 36 games, going 20-10-4 with a 2.77 goals-against average, a .907 save percentage, and 3 shutouts across 1,992:01 of ice time.

InGoal Magazine has covered Alex Lyon in one podcast appearance and eleven Pro Reads.

Lyon first sat down with InGoal in the summer of 2024 for an extended video breakdown session and a lengthy podcast interview that appeared as Episode 262 of InGoal Radio InGoal Radio Episode 262 with Alex Lyon. That session, described by InGoal as a nearly two-hour engagement Alex Lyon Pro Reads 9, produced material spanning technical, tactical, equipment, and psychological dimensions of goaltending that would be distributed across multiple Pro Reads entries through 2024 and into 2025.

One of the more discussed equipment details to emerge from those sessions was Lyon's approach to toe ties. In his podcast appearance and subsequent Pro Reads, Lyon explained that he uses a loose toe tie with a 5-6 inch gap, a setup he credited with creating significant additional width in his butterfly — coverage he described as potentially worth "10-15 goals a year" Alex Lyon Pro Reads 2. He referenced Carey Price as an inspiration for that approach Alex Lyon Pro Reads 2. In another Pro Reads, Lyon elaborated on how the extended toe tie keeps his pad further out and forward, covering more space than a tightly connected setup would allow Alex Lyon Pro Reads 5.

Across multiple sessions, Lyon returned repeatedly to themes of squareness, visual connection, and reading human nature. On pass-or-shoot decisions, he described playing off the psychological pressure shooters feel to make the "correct" play in front of teammates and coaches, using that awareness to load early for passes he anticipated before they were made Alex Lyon Pro Reads 3 Alex Lyon Pro Reads 4 Alex Lyon Pro Reads 9. He also discussed the concept of what he called "business decisions" — the realities of how different types of goals are perceived by teammates, coaches, and general managers, and how that factors into positioning choices Alex Lyon Pro Reads 5 Alex Lyon Pro Reads 4.

Lyon spent time with the Detroit Red Wings before joining Buffalo, and his first nine Pro Reads with InGoal were drawn from that Detroit period. A tenth and eleventh entry followed after he moved to the Sabres Alex Lyon Pro Reads 10 Alex Lyon Pro Reads 11. The tenth, published in January 2026, centered on a relief appearance against the Edmonton Oilers in which Lyon entered the game after Colten Ellis was pulled by concussion spotters with under 15 seconds left in a period and a 1-0 Buffalo lead. In his breakdown of the resulting save on Leon Draisaitl, Lyon placed the emphasis not on the mechanics but on preparation. "This has such little to do with goaltending and so much to do with preparation," he said Alex Lyon Pro Reads 10. He acknowledged his post entry was not ideal — "Terrible seal; should have gone RVH probably in that situation" — but framed the moment as an example of why maintaining readiness even when not playing matters Alex Lyon Pro Reads 10.

The eleventh Pro Reads, published in March 2026, came during what InGoal described as the Sabres' "mid-season revival back into the playoff race" Alex Lyon Pro Reads 11. Breaking down a sequence against the Toronto Maple Leafs involving Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies, Lyon addressed the idea of not setting up too early. "Setting up too early — and I've been thinking about this a lot lately — you just lose your net so easily," he said. "The longer you can stay loose, the less information you give the shooter but it's a fine dance because you don't want to be too late either." On the save itself, which he described as feel rather than a calculated read, he added: "The best version of most goalies is when you're not thinking about anything, and you're just living in the moment, and you're just connected to the puck" Alex Lyon Pro Reads 11.

In a Pro Reads covering a 6-on-5 sequence against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Lyon described his approach to facing Nikita Kucherov from the corner: "How many times has Nikita Kucherov sifted this pass from the corner, through skates, to the guy wide open on the back door? It's like nobody else in the world can make this pass except for Nikita Kucherov." Of his own positioning in that moment, Lyon offered a characteristically direct self-assessment: "I am not saying I am smarter than Nikita Kucherov, he's a Hall of Famer and I'm a scrub, but that's what I am thinking here" Alex Lyon Pro Reads 8.