Goalie Alex Lyon signed with the Flyers shortly after the end of last season and made his professional debut with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Saturday night against the Hartford Wolf Pack.

As luck would have it, his first outing turned into a wild affair won by Hartford 5-4 in overtime, when Nicklas Jensen buried a shot in the extra session to secure the win."It was a little more excitement than I was hoping for, and obviously, not the result, so that was disappointing. It was good to get out there, though," admitted the 23-year-old goalkeeper. "The first period I had a little bit of nerves, but after that, to be honest, I felt quite good and I was smooth and fluid. I gave up a few that I'd like back for sure, but I felt good."Hartford (2-1-0-0) struck first, just 3:57 into the game, when Tanner Glass scored the first of his two goals on the night for the Wolf Pack, while Lyon was still shaking off the jitters. The Phantoms (1-1-1-0) got three of the four third-period goals, with Andy Miele, Mark Zengerle and Chris Conner all scoring.Lyon faced a completely new challenge in overtime, when teams go to a three-on-three format, different from what he faced while playing goalie for Yale and having the teams stay at five-on-five."I was telling Stolie [fellow goaltender Anthony Stolarz] that in college, you go five-on-five for five minutes and then go home, so it was wild, to be honest. I guess until about halfway through the third I never really considered that, so it was pretty wild," said Lyon. "As a spectator, I love it, I think it's the greatest thing ever. As a goalie, it's rough, but you have just as good of a chance to win the game as you do to lose it, so it's good."MOM LIKES ME BETTER ... Phantoms left winger Greg Carey got to see his little brother, Matt Carey, who is on the Hartford roster. The Careys didn't skate against each other Saturday, but it's very likely that they'll get that chance at some point this season."We've been talking a bit, and obviously the family back home is all watching it. It's always exciting, it's awesome to see him playing pro hockey and to play against him. I think we're playing Hartford two more times in the next 10 or 11 games, so I'll see him again."FEELING STRONGER EVERY DAY ... The Phantoms had hoped to have winger Cole Bardreau back for their two weekend games, but he's still not quite ready to return from abdominal surgery. The plan now is for him to return Saturday night in Bridgeport, but that's not a definite.SEND A POSTCARD ... Lehigh Valley plays their next five games on the road, before finally playing back at the PPL Center Nov. 5 against Springfield. The trip starts Friday night in Hartford.MISSED IT BY THAT MUCH ... The Phantoms had a total of five shots go off the posts in the loss to Hartford. Carey was philosophical about the bad luck. "When it hits the post, it either goes in or it goes out. Maybe next time they'll all go in. At least we're getting shots."