Noooo! Not that goalie again!
The Lightning does not have fond memories of Roberto Luongo, whom it faces tonight.
By DAMIAN CRISTODERO
Published March 6, 2007
VANCOUVER - Roberto Luongo was a pain in the Lightning's you know what when he played for the Panthers.
Ever heard of another player whose trade prompted opponents to express joy when he was moved out of their division?
Lightning center Brad Richards on Monday said with a smile and a chuckle that last summer's trade that sent Luongo to the Canucks was "a good thing."
And defenseman Dan Boyle said he was sure if a poll of Tampa Bay players was taken, "99 percent" would say Luongo stole more games against them than any other goalie.
Said Richards: "He gave us fits."
Luongo, 27, from Montreal, is still doing that to opponents.
He is the catalyst of the 21-4-4 streak that has carried the Canucks to the top of the Northwest. He is second in the league with 37 victories, tied for fourth with a .920 save percentage and seventh with a 2.36 goals-against average.
And he will be in net tonight against Tampa Bay at GM Place.
"He's a great goalie, and he's having a great year," Lightning coach John Tortorella said. "But we're not going to get too involved. We don't do too much thinking about the other team."
Perhaps, but some of Luongo's games against Tampa Bay are hard to forget.
There was the 2-1 victory in January 2004 in which he made 50 saves, the 3-2 overtime win in January 2006 with 48 and the 4-2 victory in April with 40.
Luongo was just 11-10-2 in 24 games against the Lightning, but that, as Richards pointed out, was as much a function of him playing for an underachieving team.
More telling were his three shutouts, 2.47 goals-against average and .927 save percentage.
"It seemed," Richards said, "the more shots we took, the better he got."
"It was frustrating," Boyle said. "During a game, you're trying to get shots on him. And then the game's over, and you say, 'What just happened?' "
Luongo didn't have much of an explanation. He said he enjoys facing quality opponents. Playing one within the Southeast was a bonus.
"It was just a question of getting to know guys in the division," he said. "The more I get to see players, the better I am against them. It didn't necessarily mean I won every game, but those were the type of matchups I enjoyed."
Luongo, who needs one victory to tie Kirk McLean's team record, has other advantages.
At 6 feet 3, 205 pounds, he fills a lot of the net. His drop-down butterfly style makes scoring low problematic. And as Richards said, "He plays the percentages," meaning, "He is going to make the shooter beat him. He is not trying anything acrobatic."
How do you beat him?
Lightning wing Ruslan Fedotenko said quality shots are more important than quantity.
He said players must create traffic in front of the net and be aggressive going after rebounds, though with Luongo, those have been few and far between.
"We need to get inside," Fedotenko said. "We need to get greedy."
They need to be a pain in Luongo's you know what.
Damian Cristodero can be reached at cristodero@sptimes.com and 727 893-8622.