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Florida Panthers Goaltender Roberto Luongo Out For Extended Period

Roberto Luongo

The Florida Panthers announced on Monday that they will be without goaltender Roberto Luongo for an extended period of time. The star goaltender suffered a lower-body injury in Monday’s game against the New York Islanders. Luongo was forced to leave the game just two and a half minutes into the second period after making a save on a slapshot from defenceman Ryan Pulock. He was replaced by back-up James Reimer.

“Whether that’s three weeks, four weeks, five weeks; we’ll see how his rehab goes,” Panthers head coach Bob Boughner said on Wednesday. “Definitely out for a while. Obviously lower body, and it’s going to be an extended period of time.”

 

Florida Panthers Goaltender Roberto Luongo Out For Extended Period

Luongo, 38, is 6-6-1 this year with a 2.61 goals-against-average but those numbers do not tell the whole story. He has arguably been the Panthers best player and is the backbone of the team with a .928 save percentage. Luongo is an 18-year NHL veteran who has played with the Panthers, Vancouver Canucks, and New York Islanders.

Reimer is 4-6-3 this season with a 3.67 goals-against average and .892 save percentage. He took the role of top goalie on the Panthers earlier in the year, when Luongo had a hand injury.

“Last time he had to be in this position, there were some ups and some downs, but for the most part he’s a good goalie and we have to support him,” Boughner said. “We weren’t as good back then as we are now defensively, so we’re looking to help him out a little more. We’ve got to make sure we give him good support and [Reimer] will make the saves. All I ask of him, and he knows this, is to give us a chance to win. And if he gives us a chance to win, we’ll be in every game.”

The Panthers called up goalie Harri Sateri from Springfield to back-up Reimer.

 

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Ben Kerr

Ben Kerr

Ben is a credentialed sports writer from just outside Toronto, Canada. A lawyer, he has a highly analytical approach to writing. Ben is the COO of Last Word On Sports INC. Most of his writing can be found in the hockey department, though he follows and writes on other sports as well.

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