Well worth the Luongo wait
In first game back, goalie delivers vintage effort for Florida in Finland
HELSINKI— Roberto Luongo was just happy to finally be back on the ice for the Florida Panthers.
“It’s just nice to be back part of the team,” Luongo said. “It’s never fun to be on the sideline watching the game. I put in a lot of work and I’m happy I was able to play a game.”
Returning from a knee injury that sidelined him since the season opener, the 39-year-old Luongo stopped 32 shots to help Florida beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-2 on Friday night to split a two-game series in the Finnish capital.
“That was huge for us,” Florida coach Bob Boughner said. “Watching him play so composed after being off for a month, he is a big reason why we won the game tonight.”
Luongo, who was hurt Oct. 6 against Tampa Bay, made 17 saves in the final period.
“He gives us a lot of confidence and he’s telling us what to do, talks a lot on the ice and off the ice,” said captain Aleksander Barkov, who is Finnish.
Keith Yandle and Evgeni Dadonov had a goal and an assist each for the Panthers. Mike Hoffman and Frank Vatrano also scored a goal apiece and Jonathan Huberdeau added two assists. The Panthers overcame an early 2-1 deficit for their first regulation victory and third overall win in the first 11 games.
“Our start wasn’t very good, actually it was pretty awful, our start,” Boughner said. “They tested him (Luongo) early and he was really good and I think that gave us time to get feet underneath of us and start rolling a little bit. That’s what good goalies do, they make the saves at the right time.”
Coming off a hat trick Thursday night in Winnipeg’s 4-2 victory, Finnish star Patrik Laine scored again. In front of a ca- pacity crowd of 13,500 at Hartwall Arena. Nikolaj Ehlers also connected, and captain Blake Wheeler had two assists.
“Overall, it’s been an unreal trip,” Laine said. “I’m going to remember every second that we spent here for the rest of my life. The atmosphere at the rink was unreal for the both games. It was a pleasure to play in front of the Finnish fans, friends and family.”
Yandle broke a tie on a power play with 26 seconds left in the second period, driving a slap shot past goalie Connor Hellebuyck
Hoffman tied it on a power play at 4:59 of the second.
Vatrano scored off a turnover midway through the third.