Alex Lyon shuts out Flyers as Detroit Red Wings bounce back with 3-0 win

With two more games left before the All-Star break, the Detroit Red Wings are back to their surging ways. Tuesday night's loss to Dallas was seemingly an off-night, and the Red Wings were able to right the ship on Thursday night. This was especially true for Alex Lyon as he "pitched" a shut-out performance for the Red Wings en route to a 3-0 victory against the Flyers.

On Wednesday, when it was announced that Detroit Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde named Alex Lyon the starter, it drew some speculation. At least, I started to ponder if it would not be bad to give James Reimer a look, letting Lyon sit, and then have him fresh for the Golden Knights. But, with a conference opponent in Philly, Lalonde had it right.

Detroit came away with a 3-0 goal, powered by an excellent second-period performance from the team. It sounds like the complete opposite compared to what was said about the second period against the Dallas Stars. Detroit mustered up the offense, got out to a three-goal lead, and kept their foot on the gas, closing out the win.

Even when the Flyers started to play physically, Detroit gave it right back (sort of) and also avoided stooping down to cheap plays and taking penalties. It was good for Detroit to stay committed defensively, make better decisions, and just find ways to shut the Flyers out late in the game.

Alex Lyon's shut-out and a 3-goal period powered Detroit Red Wings win.

Detroit scored three unanswered goals during the middle frame of this game. While the first period was a lot of scoring chances and seemed like Philadelphia had the upper hand, Detroit made their mark in the second. It was Dylan Larkin who extended his point streak to ten games after he scored a power-play goal.

It was an excellent play where Larkin buried a rebound, beating Samuel Ersson up high to tuck it under the crossbar for a Red Wings goal. Detroit was not done yet, though; defender Moritz Seider made a great play, firing one at Ersson that got deflected and found the twine—giving Seider his sixth goal of the 2023-24 campaign.

Later on in the second period, it was a goal that did not mean sh*t.

Michael Rasmussen carried the puck deep into the Flyers' zone. The three attackers were pretty lazy in pressuring Rasmussen, seeing that Detroit was a) short-handed and b) heading for a line change. Rasmussen controlled the puck well and found Andrew Copp, who let a screaming shot go to beat Ersson and extend the Red Wings lead.

The remark above came after Bally Sports Detroit analyst Trevor Thompson asked Copp what scoring his 100th career goal means. Copp, fresh off of 40 minutes of play, gave quite the answer. The Flyers started to play on-brand for John Tortorella and started throwing a body more, finishing checks a bit more, and upping the physicality.

It led to a few scrums, mostly with Garnet Hathaway leading the way. However, Nicolas Deslauriers and Klim Kostin were the highlight two, who dropped their gloves and squared off. While Kostin got the best of it, it might have been a nice tune-up fight for him ahead of Detroit's match-up with Ottawa at the end of the month.

The third period was pretty calm. Physical play from the Flyers continued, and Detroit tried to add on but could not muster anything. The power play looked out of sorts, struggling to capitalize on scoring chances. It's something that could easily be fixed when Patrick Kane returns to the lineup.

However, near the end of the game, the Red Wings fans were chanting "JA-RED GO-FF" after the in-arena crew showed a Lions fan wearing a no.16 Jared Goff jersey. The victory on Thursday against Philly felt good, but seeing the city rally around the Lions and even the Red Wings -- it's a fun time to be a Detroit sports fan.

The Red Wings faithful were trying to get the wave going; the building was humming. The Bally Sports broadcast seemed quite loud, making it feel like Little Caesars Arena was poppin' in this one. It's a good feeling, especially as Detroit looks to turn the corner.