Win keeps Panthers alive
Luongo says interference call was ‘pretty clear’
The result of Tuesday’s Florida Panthers game had Carrie Underwood livid.
The Panthers beat the Nashville Predators, 2-1, on Tuesday night, but not without controversy at the end of the game. Filip Forsberg appeared to tie to the game with 0.6 seconds remaining, but officials disallowed the goal after they ruled Viktor Arvidsson interfered with Roberto Luongo’s ability to make the save.
Instead of the game going to overtime, the Panthers emerged with a victory in regulation.
“I was just trying to not snap if they would’ve allowed the goal,” Luongo said after the game. “That’s what I kept telling myself. … It’s pretty clear. I don’t know why they were complaining so much. I guess I would complain too.”
The official explanation from the NHL said that “the deliberate actions of Arvidsson's stick caused Luongo to spin and cause the covered puck to come loose prior to the goal.”
After the Predators on the ice and on the bench expressed disagreement, so did Underwood, the country music star married to Nashville forward Mike Fisher. In a series of tweets, Underwood criticized the NHL for the call, one of many controversial goalie interference calls this season.
“Goaltender interference? Are you out of your mind? On what planet? #WorstCallEver @PredsNHL #NSHvsFLA,” one tweet read.
“Biggest pile of [poop emoji] ever! Preds we’re straight up robbed,” read another.
“I am seriously livid. @NHL , fix this,” she wrote.
Kiefer Sutherland also expressed dissent on Twitter:
“Dear @nhl I love you and I always will but @PredsNHL were robbed tonight.”
The win kept Florida’s playoff hopes alive with three games remaining. The Panthers are four points behind Philadelphia for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and five points behind New Jersey for the first wild card. Florida has a game in hand on both teams.
“It was the right call, I think,” Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. “We watched it a bunch of times on the bench. We’ve had situations like that this year where the goals have been called back. It was preventing Lu from making the save. It was a great way to finish a hard-fought game by both teams.”
Luongo nears 1,000
In a radio interview on 560 WQAM on Wednesday morning, Boughner said Luongo would start today’s game against Boston, marking Luongo’s 1,000th career NHL game. He would become the third goalie in league history to reach the mark behind Martin Brodeur and Patrick Roy.
“He deserves what he’s getting,” Panthers goalies coach Robb Tallas said. “It’s an amazing accomplishment coming up. He’s just a true, true, absolute true professional to the sport of hockey.”
Luongo missed much of this season with a pair of injuries. First, he suffered a right hand injury in October that pushed him out for six games. Then, a groin injury in December knocked him out for 27 games.
Since returning on Feb. 17, Luongo is 11-5-1 with a .929 save percentage and 2.40 goals against average.
“When he did come back, he made a huge impact,” Tallas said. “He took us from a non-playoff spot to taking us to the situation where we’re right there, we’re fighting for our lives in the next three games. He’s always been a big part of that.”