Lyon has won both games on the Sabres six-game road swing in Edmonton and Vancouver.
The Buffalo Sabres are attempting to salvage what earlier in the week appeared to be a disastrous Western road swing. After losses in Philadelphia, Winnipeg, and Calgary, the Sabres beat the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday and on Thursday, they bested the Vancouver Canucks 3-2.
Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson, and Zach Benson scored for Buffalo, and Alex Lyon, fresh off a relief victory against the Oilers, made 30 saves in the victory. The Sabres have dealt with the roster dilemma of carrying three goalies all season, as they cannot demote Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Lyon, or Colten Ellis without clearing waivers.
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Head coach Lindy Ruff has commented that dealing with three goalies has been challenging, and based on the fact that a number of clubs are looking to shore up between the pipes, it would make sense that opposing GM’s would check in with GM Kevyn Adams to gauge the availability of one of his netminders.
Confirmation of that came from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in his 32 Thoughts column, as he indicated that the Oilers checked in with the Sabres on the availability of Lyon, who is in the first year of a two-year, $3 million deal, before trading with Pittsburgh for Tristan Jarry on Friday. The Oilers deal with the Penguins was a money-in, money-out deal involving Stuart Skinner and Brett Kulak, which resulted in only a $25,000 difference against the salary cap.
Although the timing of the inquiry was not revealed, the fact that Colten Ellis is on injured reserve would likely not have been a factor with Buffalo since they have Devon Levi in Rochester, but the Sabres would probably not have been interested in taking back a goalie or more salary in a swap.
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