Luongo turns back Devs, hits milestone
ROBERTO Luongo joined an exclusive club, becoming only the second goalie to win 200 games with two different teams
He made 23 saves Monday night as Florida beat the Devils, 3-2, for Luongo’s 200th victory as a Panther.
He also won 252 with Vancouver. The other netminder to accomplish the feat was Hall of Famer Patrick Roy with 289 wins for Montreal and 262 for Colorado. Luongo downplayed the feat. “That’s stuff that I’ll look at when it’s all said and done,” Luongo said. “Right now, when you’re in the moment, you don’t want to think too much about those things. Other than you guys reminding me on a daily basis, I don’t really think about it.”
His goal is helping the struggling Panthers gain traction in the standings to make a postseason push.
“Obviously if you’re playing well, you’re going to give your team a chance to win, and those wins and those milestones will come,” Luongo said. “It’s always nice when you reach a certain milestone, but the focus is on primarily on winning games and trying to get into the playoffs.”
The Panthers took one small step in that direction as Jared McCann scored the go-ahead goal in a seesaw third period.
Aleksander Barkov and Vincent Trocheck also scored as the struggling Panthers cooled off the streaking Devils, who were on a 5-1-2 run coming in. The victory was the second in the last five games for Florida.
Rookies Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt scored for the Devils and Corey Schneider made 35 saves.
After not seeing much action through two periods, Luongo made 13 saves in the third to secure the victory, and his place in the record book.
The Panthers dominated the opening period yet came away empty handed. Florida outshot the Devils, 16-3, during the scoreless frame as Schneider was under constant pressure.
Luongo saw little action in his end with Devil defenseman John Moore providing two of his club’s few chances. Moore hit the post with a drive from the left post and almost broke the deadlock in the closing seconds only to have Luongo snare his wrister.