{"id":19908,"date":"2017-12-06T20:40:48","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T01:40:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=19908"},"modified":"2017-12-06T20:40:48","modified_gmt":"2017-12-07T01:40:48","slug":"florida-panthers-roberto-luongo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2017\/12\/06\/florida-panthers-roberto-luongo\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Panthers Goaltender Roberto Luongo Out For Extended Period"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Florida Panthers<\/a>\u00a0announced on Monday that they will be without goaltender Roberto Luongo<\/a><\/strong> for an extended period of time. The star goaltender suffered a lower-body injury in Monday’s game against the New York Islanders<\/a>. 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<\/a><\/strong>. He was replaced by back-up James Reimer<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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BREAKING: Roberto Luongo has been injured and had to be helped off the ice. pic.twitter.com\/ekJvZJSrdw<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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

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Luongo to miss ‘an extended period of time’ with lower-body injury.<\/p>\n

Story \u00bb https:\/\/t.co\/hAIvb5aLbA<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/P35qBwSBiY<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) December 6, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Florida Panthers Goaltender Roberto Luongo Out For Extended Period<\/h1>\n

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<\/a>, and New York Islanders<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

The Panthers called up goalie\u00a0Harri Sateri<\/strong> from Springfield to back-up Reimer.<\/p>\n

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Main Photo:
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>