The Florida Panthers’ dire goaltending situation
Mar 4, 2015, 5:44 AM | Updated: 5:45 am
Tuesday’s NHL game in Sunrise, Florida, went comically bad for the home team.
The Florida Panthers’ goaltending unit was constantly in flux throughout a matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Starting netminder Roberto Luongo took a rough shot to his head and neck area late in the first period and stayed down on the ice for several minutes, according to Deadspin.
The 15-year veteran finished out the frame, but he was pulled during the first intermission, and he came back to the bench later dressed in street clothes.
Al Montoya took over for the Panthers, but he too suffered an injury while giving up a goal in the third period. Center Derek MacKenzie left the ice to dress as an emergency goaltender, but Montoya returned just in time.
Three minutes later, Montoya met with Luongo and the team’s coach, trainer and general manager before going back on the ice. In a bizarre twist, goaltending coach Robb Tallas was then dressed as the new emergency goalie. Tallas hasn’t played in the NHL since February 2001, and he had a 28-42-10 record during his six-year career.
The local broadcast team noted the Panthers had to quickly sign Tallas to a one-day contract so he could be eligible to play.
Robb Tallas will earn $500 for suiting up tonight for #FlaPanthers. Here is the contract he signed tonight: pic.twitter.com/qEcXxIfzgp
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) March 4, 2015
Fortunately for Florida, neither MacKenzie nor Tallas had to take over goaltending duties, and Luongo even came back in to finish the game — despite being in casual clothes just minutes before.
Roberto Luongo looked like this 10 minutes ago. Now he's in net for the Florida Panthers. pic.twitter.com/WsJt0kE3A8
— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) March 4, 2015
Here’s a rundown of all the Panthers’ goaltending drama against the Maple Leafs:
This is nuts. pic.twitter.com/WXnTuwY9pj
— Neil Keefe (@NeilKeefe) March 4, 2015
Even with all the netminding chaos, the Panthers only lost by a 3-2 margin, with all three Toronto goals going against Montoya.
