Panthers’ progress
Hyde: Luongo, Barkov are keys to postseason.
There is hope again in a Panthers season, where hope usually migrates north this time of year. And hope, with a month to play, with everything still on the table, produced the kind of noise Thursday that’s the soundtrack of their recent run.
The noise flew from the rafters during the 5-0 win against Montreal like plastic rats flew after the game. It came down on the ice again, and again, and then again as Montreal’s Nicholas Deslauriers slammed his stick on the ice in frustration after his breakaway attempt was stopped in the second period.
“Loooo-u-u-u,’’ the noise came, low and deep, like a hallelujah chorus from Panthers fans.
Roberto Luongo just plucked Deslaurier’s shot with his glove, snapping it in mid-air like some- thing off an Animal Planet video. That kept Montreal from finding a toehold into the game. That was his best save this game, if not his
most perilous.
That one came in the first period when Luongo’s glove save was replayed by officials, again and again, to see if the puck crossed the goal line. Different angles were shown. Minutes passed. When it finally was deemed a no goal, the Lou birds came out again. “Loooooo,’’ they said. You don’t have to do higher math this time of year to see what this win means. The Panthers kept pace with Columbus for the final playoffs spot. They sit two points behind Columbus, and three behind New Jersey, despite playing three fewer games than each.
Nor do you have to understand the nuances of the game to see the top guns carrying the Panthers now, and who will be asked to take them to the post-season, if they make it there.
Roberto Luongo and Alexsander Barkov.
Or, if you prefer: Barkov and Luongo.
They’re Batman and Batman the way the Panthers are configured now. They’ll need various Robins, like Nick Bjugstad, who scored his fourth goal in the past two games on Thursday. But Luongo and Barkov are the two stars who can carry a night and are doing so on this 14-3-1 stretch that has turned around the season. Thursday showed how it works. Luongo had 40 saves in a shutout. But it wasn’t just the number. The timing mattered, too.
Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher took two whacks at the puck right in front of the net. Luongo went to the ice to stop both. The second rebound was taken the other way, a Panthers break, with Barkov feeding Nick Bjugstad, who worked some in-close magic for the goal.
That put the Panthers up, 2-0. That’s the kind of good run they’re on right now. Everything seems to be going their way. And that includes the residue of luck rarely talked about in sports.
It was there Thursday when Luongo was beat on a rebound. The game wasn’t much in doubt at that point. The Panthers led, 4-0. So it was the difference between a good and great night for Luongo when officials ruled he was interfered with on the shot on a call that easily could have gone the other way.
The Panthers run started with minor-league goalie Harri Sateri filling in like a star when Luongo and back-up James Reimer were hurt. But Luongo has made nine of the past 11 starts.
He hasn’t just provided big saves. He’s provided big moments like the emotional Feb. 22 speech about the Stoneham Douglas High School shooting in his Parkland community.
We’re reaching a point we have in March for a lot of years with the Panthers. The playoffs shimmer before them, if they can win enough. They’ve only gone to three playoffs this millennium. They haven’t won a playoff series since 1996.
We know how the Panthers finished last season, when they were in this same position, and the wheels came off all the way until April. The players didn’t like the coaching regime or unstructured system last year.
The next month will tell if this team is as different as they believe, whether they are just over-performing in this good stretch or this is who they really are. How often that soundtrack of hope comes, of Luongo making another save, will tell how far this season goes.