Alex Lyon stands alone and atop Sabres goalies, after 10th consecutive win
Buffalo Sabres goalie Alex Lyon set a franchise record with 10 consecutive wins, and made 37 saves in a 4-1 win against Los Angeles.
Alex Lyon has now done something that some of the most notable Buffalo Sabres goalies have never done.
Ryan Miller didn’t do it.
Grant Fuhr didn’t do it.
Dominik Hasek didn’t do it.
Tom Barrasso didn’t do it.
Lyon won his 10th consecutive game and made franchise history in the Sabres’ 4-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday at KeyBank Center.
Buffalo Sabres goaltender Alex Lyon (34) celebrates a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings with his teammates at KeyBank Center
on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News
Lyon joined the Sabres in July as a free agent, after spending the previous two seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, and has already bested some of the Sabres’ legends, including Gerry Desjardins, who set the previous record of nine consecutive wins Dec. 11-29, 1976.
“It’s awesome to be a part of the history, but when you’re stacked up against guys like Ryan Miller and obviously Hasek, those are the guys that I idolized, growing up, so I’m certainly not going to put myself anywhere near the conversation with those guys,” said Lyon, who made 37 saves against the Kings. “For me, I’m happy for the team. Right now, my goal coming into the season was to help win games, like I’ve always said, and trying to fight for that ultimate goal, and that’s what’s most important for me.”
Alex Tuch stated that ultimate goal.
“We’re trying to prove, as a team, that we’re legit,” said Tuch, who scored three goals against the Kings. “We’re not just going to go for the playoffs, we’re going to go for the Cup. That’s our goal, to get better, each and every day.
“We’re not just here to squeak in. We’re in here to try to keep winning.”
Tuch couldn’t have said it without Lyon. Lyon couldn’t have done it without Tuch.
Now, Lyon could be in line to continue the winning streak when the Sabres host the Montreal Canadiens at 7 p.m. Saturday at KeyBank Center. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, the Sabres’ No. 1 goaltender, is out for at least a week with a lower-body injury he sustained Tuesday in the first period of a 7-4 win at Toronto.
Four goalies hold the NHL's record of 14 consecutive wins: Tom Barrasso with Pittsburgh in 1992-93, Tiny Thompson with Boston in 1929-30, Jonas Hiller with Anaheim in 2013-14 and Sergei Bobrovsky with Columbus in 2016-17.
Lyon is already among some elite company in NHL history. Among the 21 goaltenders, all-time, who have 10 consecutive wins: Edmonton’s Grant Fuhr (Feb. 14-March 25, 1986). New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur (Jan. 3-26, 2000). Detroit’s Dominik Hasek (Feb. 4-March 9, 2002). Montreal’s Carey Price (Oct. 20-Nov. 12, 2016).
The most recent goalie to do it? Vitek Vanecek, who was with New Jersey when he won 10 consecutive games from Dec. 30, 2022-Feb. 6, 2023.
It’s an impressive mark for Lyon, who has gone up and down between the minors and the NHL for the first seven seasons of his career, but in the last three seasons has evolved into a goalie who can step into any situation.
“I’ve tried to carve out just being a very valuable and useful asset, and that’s the way I think about my career,” Lyon said.
“That’s kind of been my ability to stay in the league, is embracing those situations.”
Now, he’s buoying the Sabres, as they pursue a playoff spot – a very real pursuit.
“10 in a row for Alex, that’s incredible,” Tuch said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. That’s very impressive by him. He’s feeling it right now. Every save looks so easy for him, and when you have guys like that backstopping behind you, you’re going to have all the confidence in the world.”
What, in particular, has stood out about Lyon?
“Keeping the puck out of the net, obviously,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “I think the calmness he’s had under pressure, in a lot of the games, it’s something that’s a little bit infectious with our team. Some chaos, he’s done a pretty good job of eliminating that next play or that next goal that lets a team back in the game.”
Tuch considered Lyon’s fearlessness. Or at least his psychological makeup.
“He’s a little bit crazy, and it’s a good crazy,” Tuch said. “It’s good to have on our side. I never loved playing against him, and he’s not the biggest guy, he’s not the most athletic guy, he hasn’t taken the most direct route, but he’s here. He comes to work. He has a lot of fun doing it.”
Tuch’s trick
Tuch scored his first hat trick of the season, and first multi-goal game of the season, against the Kings.With Jeff Malott penalized for roughing, Tuch gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 7:14 when his centering pass banked off Cody Ceci's skate and bounced past Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper (28 saves).
Tuch’s second goal gave the Sabres a 3-0 lead at 6:29 of the second, when he deflected Bowen Byram's shot from the left point past Kuemper at 6:29. Then, with Kuemper pulled for a sixth skater, Tuch completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal with 59.9 seconds left.
Tuch registered his fourth hat trick as a Sabre, and his first since Dec. 27, 2024, against Chicago. He also scored three goals two nights after Rasmus Dahlin scored three in a 7-4 win Tuesday at Toronto; the Sabres have hat tricks in back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 4-6, 2002, when Curtis Brown and Miroslav Satan scored hat tricks.
From second to third
The Kings outshot the Sabres 19-14 in the second, and cut the lead to 3-1 at 7:47 of the second on Adrian Kempe’s power-play goal, with Dahlin penalized for slashing 11 seconds earlier.Ruff explained that his team got “incredibly cute” in the second.
“Instead of north and getting pucks behind them, a lot of lateral movement,” Ruff said. “Up top, we had lateral movement instead of going to the net. We put too many ‘hope plays.’ You get up a few and there was a near-miss on the incredible play that would have been great, but we weren’t putting too many pucks on the net.”
The locker-room directive between the second and third periods?
“Here’s your options,” Ruff said. “We’re not going down the ice and throwing the lateral pass. We’re gonna go north, and if we don’t have anything north, we’re gonna play it below the goal line, or play it to the ‘D’ and they’ll get it to the net.”
Ruff summed up the third period, in which the Sabres limited the Kings to seven shots on goal: “Winning hockey.”