Sabres read 'body language' to make goalie switch during East 1st Round

Years of being a goalie, including 508 games across 16 seasons in the NHL, has taught Martin Biron the importance of body language and why it matters at the position, for his team and the opponent.

Biron, a studio analyst for the Buffalo Sabres on MSG Networks and nationally in Canada on TSN, said on the latest episode of the "NHL @TheRink" podcast that he thinks the Sabres turned to goalie Alex Lyon in Game 3 against the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference First Round because Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen's body language in Game 2 was not right.

Lyon has started the past three games for Buffalo, getting the job done with two wins and four goals-against on 85 shots for a 1.18 goals-against average and .958 save percentage. The Sabres lead the best-of-7 series 3-2 with Game 6 at TD Garden in Boston on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, TVAS2, SN360).

"That goal by (Morgan) Geekie from center ice was a killer and maybe one that (Sabres coach) Lindy Ruff on the bench looked around and saw what it did to the team and he's like, 'OK, I need to give them some confidence and some calm moving forward into Boston,'" Biron said in the interview with co-hosts Dan Rosen and Shawn P. Roarke. "And Alex Lyon provided that calm and really the stops and the saves that they needed in the last three games."

Biron is talking about the center backhand flip from Geekie that got past Luukkonen at 16:29 of the second period of Game 2 at KeyBank Center on April 21, which gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead they eventually extended to 4-0 before finishing off a 4-2 win to tie the series 1-1.

He said he probably would have gone back to Luukkonen for Game 3, but the Sabres replaced him in the third period of that game and have not looked back. 

Biron referenced Luukkonen's body language after Geekie's goal as a turning point.

"One of the big things for me when I talk to young goalies or even college-aged goaltenders, I will say, 'Making saves is one thing, keeping the puck out of your net is one thing, but giving your team confidence and not giving the other team some daylight to believe they got you is also part of that,'" Biron said. "I think that Luukkonen, when he gave up that goal, he stood there like, 'Oh, man,' with his shoulders down.

"I'm big on body language. You give up that goal. You get up. You get in your net. You do the Ron Hextall to your posts. You get fired up and you stare them in the face so that Boston doesn't have that feeling that they got you. I don't care if it's fake, I don't care if it's a fraud, but you give them that look that they didn't get to you. I feel like Luukkonen gave them a look like they got to me and then they scored two quick goals. I think it was probably for your own team but also for Lindy Ruff to say I don't want Boston to feel confident against my goalie."

Lyon has given the Sabres confidence and Biron doesn't think it wavers in the wake of a 2-1 overtime loss in Game 5 on Tuesday, when the goalie made 27 saves.

"They lose a game finally with Alex Lyon in net, but I don't think it's the same situation," Biron said. "You're not thinking Luukkonen now for Game 6. You were maybe thinking Luukkonen to Lyon, Game 2 to Game 3. I don't think it's an easy decision, but it's one that they've made the right decision all season long. Even when they used Colten Ellis, they used him in the right situation. I have no doubt (about how they're) handling their goalies. They've done it all season long. They'll continue to do it in the playoffs."

In addition to the goaltending and other aspects of the Sabres-Bruins series, Biron provided his thoughts on the series between the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning and compared Minnesota Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt to Henrik Lundqvist.

Rosen and Roarke talked about the Dallas Stars' struggles to score at 5-on-5, why the Anaheim Ducks and Utah Mammoth are the proverbial playing with house money teams in the first round, and if the Pittsburgh Penguins can rally from down 3-0 to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers in seven games.

The "NHL @TheRink" podcast is free and listeners can subscribe on all podcast platforms. It is also available on NHL.com/multimedia/podcasts and the NHL app.