Marty Biron was right about Alex Lyon and Buffalo Sabres

The Buffalo Sabres find themselves in a precarious situation, as they trail the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 in their second round series. While it's not the end of the world for the Sabres, the fact that their two losses were blowouts is very concerning entering Game 4.

After a 6-2 Game 3 loss to the Canadiens, Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said he would not place blame on starting goalie Alex Lyon. While Lyon played well in these playoffs, giving up nine goals does open up the door for a potential goaltending change. In this case, benching Lyon for Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

During an appearance on TSN' OverDrive, former Sabres goalie Marty Biron said he believes the Sabres should bench Lyon for Luukkonen for Game 4 on Tuesday night.

"Lyon was really good early, but he's given up nine goals, the Sabres have given up 11 in the last two games. I feel you probably have to change and go back to your identity, which was a rotation," said Biron. "I'm not saying you rotate every game, but they did that in the first round. But after Game 2 against Boston, Lindy Ruff said, 'Hey, the rotation worked well for us.' I think he opened the door for everybody to think, well, Lyon's going to come back. I think [Sunday night] he shut the door on Luukkonen, but I would go to Luukkonen just because I think Luukkonen can steal you a game. Montreal's so dynamic. You need a goalie that's going to be explosive, and Lyon is great in his structure. But what we're seeing now is you got to play outside that structure."

It appears that Ruff and the Sabres listened to Biron's comments, based on the news to drop mere hours before puck drop on Tuesday.

Sabres going with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen as Game 4 starting goalie vs. Canadiens

On Tuesday, the Sabres held their practice before Game 4, and reporters noticed that Luukkonen was in the starter's net. Usually, that is the tell in practice on who will get the nod for the start. Luukkonen confirmed that he would be starting while speaking with reporters after practice.

As Biron mentioned, the Sabres had generally gone with a goaltender rotation throughout the season. In the playoffs, Luukkonen started the first two games of Buffalo's first round series against the Boston Bruins. After a 4-2 loss to the Bruins in Game 2, Luukkonen was benched in favor of Lyon, who never relinquished the starter's role until now.

The Sabres can look at goaltending decisions in the second round and see that they can be a positive or a negative. The Wild benched Jesper Wallstedt after giving up eight goals on 42 shots in Game 1 against the Colorado Avalanche. They gave Filip Gustavsson the start in Game 2, who gave up four goals on 22 shots in a 5-2 loss. In Game 3, the Wild went back to Wallstedt.

Meanwhile, the Avalanche had benched Scott Wedgewood after giving up three goals on 12 shots in a 5-1 Game 3 loss. The Avalanche instead started Mackenzie Blackwood, who saved 12-of-13 shots in relief in Game 3. In Game 4, Blackwood got the start and saved 19-of-21 shots faced in a 5-2 victory.

For the Sabres, they are hoping they'll get the results the Avalanche received by their goaltending switch and not the Wild. We'll see if the switch back to Luukkonen will pay off on Tuesday night.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow