Lyon backstops Detroit to shutout of Devils
Alex Lyon made 16 saves for his second career shutout, Robby Fabbri had a goal and an assist and the Detroit Red Wings beat the New Jersey Devils 4-0 on Wednesday night.
Lyon was making his second start of the season. Last April with Florida, he shut out Columbus.
Lyon is playing for his fourth NHL team since the 2017-18 season.
He signed a two-year contract as a free agent during the offseason.
“I’ve been waiting a lot of years to get an opportunity, and it is definitely a skill to staying ready when you haven’t played much,” he said. “Even playing games in the AHL doesn’t prepare you for the speed at this level.”
Fabbri capped a threegoal spree in a 1:12 span late in the first period in Detroit’s first game since returning from the NHL’s Global Series Sweden. Lucas Raymond extended his goals streak to four games, Dylan Larkin and Moritz Seider also scored and Daniel Sprong had two assists.
Detroit went 0-1-1 in Sweden.
“This is huge to come
back from Sweden and those two tough losses to get a win here,” Fabbri said.
“We know this is a big weekend in Detroit, with Thanksgiving, the Lions and Michigan (football), and the energy here was great.”
New Jersey was shut out for the first time this season. Vitek Vanecek made 24 saves.
“They were a step ahead of us all game,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “They outskated us and outcompeted us. They wanted it a lot more than we did. By the end of the night, we got exactly what we deserved.”
Raymond got the late first-period flurry going when he lifted a shot over Vanecek’s right shoulder off Fabbri’s feed during a 2 on-1.
Larkin, who has 25 points in 21 games against New Jersey, scored on a backhander through Vanecek’s legs 20 seconds later. Fabbri made it a 3-0 when he whistled a shot past Vanecek’s glove.
“I turned the puck over twice and they went down and scored. Definitely not good enough,” Devils forward Tyler Toffoli said. “Very disappointed in myself and my game tonight. I take the blame on two of those goals.”
Seider had a power-play goal, on a slap shot from the point midway through the second period.
The Red Wings were 2 for 41 on the power play prior to the goal.
Detroit is 9-0-2 when scoring four or more goals.
“Obviously, I love the way we defended,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. “They didn’t get a whole lot and Alex was great when we needed him.
“There were still some moments we can manage better — we had some turnovers and miscues with the puck — but we had some defensive urgency coming off a tough trip.”
The Red Wings
Boston today.