The mocking chants of “LY-ON, LY-ON” from the TD Garden crowd Monday night during a 3-1 win for the Boston Bruins told part of the story about the performance in net from Florida Panthers goalie Alex Lyon.
Lyon, a 30-year-old journeyman who made the fewest starts among Panthers goalies during the regular season and had never appeared in a postgame contest until Game 1, came through with 26 saves, but also surrendered an especially soft goal to Brad Marchand that went right through his glove in the second period. Lyon also failed to cover a puck later in the frame that allowed Jake DeBrusk to score a gritty goal.
But Lyon offset that shakiness with a couple of stellar saves to keep the Panthers within striking distance, including robbing Trent Frederic twice during two-on-one situations.
Despite some timely stops from Lyon, it seems Panthers head coach Paul Maurice has a decision to make for Game 2 when it comes to who to start between the pipes since he has veteran netminder Sergei Bobrovsky lurking as an option. But Maurice’s confidence in Lyon hasn’t wavered yet.
“I think he was fantastic last night,” Maurice told reporters Tuesday, per ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski. “I loved his game.”
Bobrovsky had a decent regular season for the Panthers, posting a 24-20-3 record to go along with a .901 save percentage and a 3.07 goals-against average. But it’s clear Maurice currently has more faith in Lyon.
That might be due to Bobrovsky’s own shakiness down the stretch when he let up 13 goals over his last three appearances in late March.
Maurice could look to give the Panthers a jolt after losing Game 1 by turning things over to Bobrovsky, but it seems for the moment, he’s content on sticking with Lyon.
The Bruins will try to extend their series lead Wednesday night when they take on the Panthers in Game 2 in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Puck drop from TD Garden is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.
