Goalie’s a savior
Luongo shows he’s still among the league’s best goalies
Luongo kept Panthers in NHL hunt all season.
Perhaps the highest compliment for an NHL goaltender is that he gives his team a chance to win every time he guards the cage.
That was uttered by not only his teammates on a daily basis but by nearly every opposing coach and player throughout the season. That’s why the second reincarnation of Roberto Luongo’s career with the Panthers has to be deemed a rousing success — so far.
Luongo was the main reason the Panthers played in an NHL-high 48 games decided by one goal, and for the team’s goalsagainst-average moving from 29th (3.20 goals-per-game) in the league to 16th (2.60) in the past season.
Although Luongo was unable to carry a team full of young, evolving players full of promise to a playoff berth in his first full season back after his trade from Vancouver, he came close.
The Panthers — ranked 30th and 29th in the league for the previous two seasons — weren’t eliminated from the playoff race until game No. 79. And that was with Luongo playing the last nine games with a chipped bone in his right shoulder. He sustained the injury March 3 in that bizarre 3-2 loss to the lowly Maple Leafs in which his backup Al Montoya was also knocked out of
the game (groin).
“The one that hurt the most was the Toronto game,” Luongo said. “That’s their only road win this year, obviously, with some unreal circumstances that happened to our team. Those two points could’ve been useful down the stretch.”
After Dec. 31, the Leafs went 0-21-3 on the road. With a win that night, the Panthers would’ve tied the Bruins for the final playoff berth. They never got closer after that.
Panthers fans voted Luongo the team’s most valuable player, and his coach effusively echoed those sentiments in his postseason wrapup.
“[Luongo] is the key. He’s the backbone of our team all season,” Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said. “He was real strong and gives our team confidence. … He’s been a leader on this team and coming into this season, he’s everything I could’ve asked for as a coach.”
Luongo, whose 36th birthday on April 4 was spoiled by a 4-0 loss to the Lightning that officially ended the Panthers’ chase for a wild-card playoff berth, was unable to put a happy face on the team’s NHL-best 25-point improvement, up to 20th in the league.
“Once the playoffs are over that’s when I start focusing on next year,” Luongo said. “It’s going to sting for a little bit, the disappointment of not being there. We know we got something good in this locker room. We’re excited about the future. That being said you have to have that burn in your stomach for a little while to realize how much better we need to be next year.”
Whether it was the escape from the glare of the Canadian media revolving around an ongoing goalie controversy, or returning home to Parkland where his family has lived since he basically began his career from 2000-06, Luongo enjoyed his best season statistically since 2010.
Despite the critics who said Luongo’s best days were behind him, he went 28-19-12 with a 2.35 goalsagainst-average and .921 save percentage, ninth best among goalies with 50 or more games played. Luongo was selected to his fourth All-Star Game, but first since 2009.
“I view it as an accomplishment, especially what has happened over the last few years. … It’s all about helping the team win games,” Luongo said. “Winning is all I need to get me going and trying to get this team back into the playoffs. I can still play, that was never a doubt. I really didn’t have to prove it to myself. I’m happy I was able to do my job this year. I would’ve liked to do it a little better.”
Every loss, whether in regulation, overtime or shootouts, Luongo stood up and shouldered the blame, despite having to deal with the pressure of playing in front of an anemic (yet improved) 25th-ranked offense (2.42 goals-per-game).
With seven years and $25 million remaining on his contract, it’s essential that Luongo maintain his elite status while the Panthers’ myriad of blossoming young players come of age. He has one goal, and that’s to hoist the Stanley Cup for the first time.
“It’s all about the culture in the locker room, expectations, making sure you demand the most of yourself every night and not accept losses,” Luongo said. “I think we did that for the most part. We fell a little bit short, which is disappointing but I think we grew as a team this year.”