Todd McLellan reveals why he pulled Alex Lyon just minutes into start vs. Lightning
Photo credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMERnp4U-d8
The Red Wings got off on a bad footing on Saturday, trailing 2-0 in the first few minutes of play, leading Todd McLellan to make a goaltending change.
The opening three minutes of play against the Tampa Bay Lightning could not have gone worse for the Detroit Red Wings during this afternoon's game at Little Caesars Arena.
The Lightning scored twice on their 1st three shots, one of which was a very stoppable attempt from Brandon Hagel followed by a seeing-eye shot from the point that beat goaltender Alex Lyon from Erik Cernak.
Head coach Todd McLellan had seen enough, and decided to pull Lyon in favor of Cam Talbot; the Red Wings hadn't even recorded their 1st shot on goal yet.
Detroit didn't fare much better after Talbot's entrance into the game, as a pair of breakdowns resulted in a goal from Brayden Point after he got in behind Detroit's defense, followed by a breakaway goal from Nick Paul.
After what turned out to be a 6-3 loss, McLellan explained that he didn't view Lyon as the problem despite pulling him from action so early.
Two of the first three [shots] went it. We're two minutes into the game - here's the thing about pulling a goaltender. When you pull a goaltender, he leaves the game and not heard or seen anymore. Everybody asks questions after. When a coach has an [expletive] night, he doesn't get pulled.
He just stays in the game and stands there. When a player has an [expletive] night, they continue on. It's so magnified for the goaltenders. It's a tough position to play, but we had given up four goals on our first six shots. By no means is that on the two guys that wear the pads.
He just stays in the game and stands there. When a player has an [expletive] night, they continue on. It's so magnified for the goaltenders. It's a tough position to play, but we had given up four goals on our first six shots. By no means is that on the two guys that wear the pads.
It was an uncharacteristically poor start for Lyon, who had won five of his previous seven games; he also made a season-high 45 saves against the Edmonton Oilers in last week's 3-2 shootout win.
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 8 | 180 ANSWERS Todd McLellan reveals why he pulled Alex Lyon just minutes into start vs. Lightning Should Todd McLellan have pulled Alex Lyon so early, or given him a chance to finish the period? | ||
| Pulled at the right time | 131 | 72.8 % |
| Shouldn't have been pulled yet | 49 | 27.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
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