Buffalo’s Kozak could play vs. NY Islanders

BUFFALO — When Sabres goalie Alex Lyon left Yale University following his junior season to sign with the Philadelphia Flyers as an undrafted free agent, he thought riches and enshrinement in hockey’s hallowed hall would be in his future.

“When I first came out of college, I thought I was going to make tens of millions of dollars,” he said following Friday’s practice in KeyBank Center. “I was going to be a Hockey Hall of Famer.”

Almost 10 years later, Lyon, 33, is a journeyman who has fought for every opportunity.

He spent most of his first seven seasons in the AHL. When he turned 30, he had played just 24 NHL games.

In recent years, however, he has stuck in the big leagues, spending chunks of time as a No. 1, backup or even third-string netminder.

Thirty-three games into his first season with the Sabres, he has already served in all three roles.

Right now, Lyon, who’s expected to start this afternoon’s game against the New York Islanders at KeyBank Center, is the Sabres’ top option again.

He seized his chance last week after rookie Colten Ellis suffered a concussion and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen performed so poorly he got yanked.

Lyon has registered all four victories during the Sabres’ current season-long win streak, compiling a 2.44 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage during that stretch. He has started the last three contests and appeared in five straight games.

IN FOUR outings over a nine-day stretch, he earned more wins than he had all season.

“It’s nice to find a rhythm and get rewarded with a couple wins,” Lyon said after making 24 saves in Thursday’s 5-3 win over the Flyers. “I think I was putting a good product on the ice early in the season and maybe wasn’t getting rewarded with all the wins.”

With Luukkonen injured for much of October, Lyon quickly emerged as the Sabres’ backbone, starting the first six games and nine of the opening 11 contests. Despite winning just three times, he was their MVP during that stretch as they stumbled out of the gate.

Then Ellis, a waiver claim before the season, and Luukkonen, who was expected to be the starter, found short grooves. Lyon, meanwhile, struggled a bit.

Before replacing an ineffective Luukkonen on Dec. 8 in Calgary for the final 20 minutes of the Sabres’ 7-4 loss to the Flames, he had played just once over an 11-game stretch.

But taking a backseat offered Lyon a chance to quietly go about his business and hone his craft.

“When you have time, you just find ways to get better,” the loquacious Lyon said. “… It’s not like you’re really getting markedly better, as much as it’s you’re just like getting it back to 100 percent, I guess is the best way to say it.

“Especially when you get older, you are mostly trying to find that feeling, that really good confident, strong feeling. You’re not like, ‘Oh, I’m working on this and this and this’ necessarily.”

Lyon said that work is “paying dividends right now.” He has recaptured that feeling he explained.

“I think he found himself and got himself in a good place again,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “He practices every day like he’s preparing to play, whether he plays or not.”

The affable Lyon’s personality has meshed well with the Sabres, a group that often gets too high or too low.

“He’s super confident,” Sabres center Tage Thompson said. “You need that from a goalie. I think he gets scored on, (it) doesn’t affect him at all. In between periods in the locker room, he’s talking, he’s enjoying himself, having a good time.

“He’s a pretty laid-back guy, so I think that just calms everybody else down.”

Lyon, who’s in his fifth organization, said he tries to be malleable and fit in with different teams and situations. He spent two seasons with the Detroit Red Wings before signing a two-year, $3 million contract with the Sabres.

“It’s by necessity,” he said. “You have to learn to get along with people.”

Lyon has said he gets along well with Ellis and Luukkonen. Still, in his introductory news conference Tuesday, new general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, who replaced Kevyn Adams on Monday, said the Sabres must start making decisions about going down to a two-goalie rotation.

It’s hard to envision Lyon, having won seven games and played 18 times, both team highs, being the odd man out.

— Sabres center Tyson Kozak, who left Thursday’s win with an upper-body injury, is questionable for this afternoon’s game, Ruff said.

Ruff said Kozak, who did not practice Friday, will skate early today before the Sabres decide if he can play.

If Kozak, 22, can’t go, forward Josh Dunne will likely move into the lineup.

Meanwhile, Ruff said winger Jordan Greenway missed Friday’s practice as part of his load management plan.

In other news, having lost defenseman Conor Timmins to a broken leg for six to eight weeks in Thursday’s victory, either Jacob Bryson or rookie Zach Metsa will move into the lineup.

Timmins, 27, has enjoyed regular duty after arriving in a trade from the Pittsburgh Penguins, registering zero goals, six assists and a minus-11 rating while averaging 19 minutes, 14 seconds of ice time in 33 games.

“He’s been a real steady D for us, been great on the kill, been physical,” Ruff said. “He’s played well. It’s going to be next man up now. (He) has to come in and play well for us.”

Defenseman Michael Kesselring, a right-handed shot like Timmins, returned from a sprained ankle Thursday, so that softens the blow of losing a top-six defender.

“So we lose one but we got one back,” Ruff said.

— The NHL’s holiday roster freeze went into effect at 11:59 p.m. Friday and lasts until Dec. 28.