Panthers goalie Alex Lyon expected to start 'probably 2' of Florida's final 13 games

Lyon was recalled from AHL Charlotte on Sunday

Alex Lyon is going to play in a big game for the Florida Panthers.

It’s just a matter of when.

Lyon was recalled from a quick trip to the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers on Sunday after he picked up a pair of wins on Friday and Saturday.

He shut out the Toronto Marlies on Friday 5-0 and then beat them again the following afternoon 4-1, stopping a combined 34 of 35 shots against over the two games.

Not exactly a huge workload, but surely enough to knock off any game-rust that may have accumulated since his last starting assignment, which came over a month prior.

Sergei Bobrovsky has been the exclusive rightsholder of the Panthers goal crease since mid-February.

Monday night in Detroit he’ll start his 13th straight game, but depending how the night goes, he may actually get a night off when Florida faces off with the Flyers Tuesday in Philadelphia.

“It’s fluid,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said of the goalie situation. “We don’t make a decision until we get through the game tonight.”

While Bobrovsky would happily start every single game on the schedule, Maurice and his staff would like to give him a little rest if and when they can.

The current goal is to make the playoffs, but the work certainly doesn’t stop there. Keeping Bobrovsky as fresh as possible for the postseason while not diminishing Florida’s chances of picking up crucial regular season points is the name of the game.

“With eight games in under two weeks, Alex is going to play in probably two of them,” Maurice said. “We’ve got a plan to give strong consideration for him playing tomorrow in Philadelphia, but we’ll make those decisions after the game.”

Lyon has skated in six games with the Panthers this season, earning a 3-2-1 record that doesn’t tell the story of how important his time in the net was.

Bobrovsky and Knight were both unable to play at a time where Florida was very much behind the eight ball in terms of the playoff race.

Two of Lyon’s losses came when he played back-to-back road games against the Rangers and Penguins, the latter of which was a 7-6 overtime loss where he gave absolutely everything he had to offer, to the point where he could barely stay composed while speaking to the media afterwards.

It was in those sincere, unguarded moments that Lyon endeared himself to a fanbase that has some experience with rooting for the underdog.

An emergency AHL call-up emptying the tank for a team desperate for wins? That’s something Panthers fans can get behind.

His last start for Florida was one of the season’s signature victories, a last-second comeback win over the big bad Boston Bruins.

Looking at Florida’s remaining schedule, there are two back-to-back sets including this week in Detroit and Philly. The second one is next Wednesday and Thursday in Toronto and Montreal, which, like this week, sets up with the seemingly lesser opponent coming on the back end.

It would make sense that Lyon starting against Philadelphia and Montreal would be the two-game plan Maurice mentioned.

Starting tonight in Detroit, we’ll see if things go by design for the Panthers and their tendies.