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Vancouver Canucks edge Florida Panthers 2-1

Vancouver 2, Florida 1

You have to wonder if there was at least a small part of Roberto Luongo that felt bad for opposing goalie Tomas Vokoun.

After all, just a few years ago, Luongo was the ace Florida Panthers goalie who saw more rubber than a busy highway game after game and stopped most of those shots, only the team in front of him wasn’t strong enough to do much with his efforts anyway. Eventually Luongo was traded from the Panthers to the Vancouver Canucks in a laughable swap that included Todd Bertuzzi and Alex Auld and now must worry about being blamed for losses instead of being the one bright spot in a grim situation.

Whether there was empathy or not, Luongo and the Canucks left tonight’s game with a narrow win. He stopped 41 out of 42 shots as it seems like he’s responding well to the reduced pressure of losing the captaincy (not to mention the Canucks’ hiring a new goalie coach in Roland Melanson) while Vokoun stopped 33 out of 35.

Daniel Sedin scored both of Vancouver’s goals, each one assisted by his brother Henrik and fellow Swede Mikael Samuelsson. Rostislav Olesz scored the Panthers’ lone goal with assists from Mike Santorelli and Cory Stillman. The Canucks managed to win without getting a single power play while the Panthers went 0-for-3.

It’s obviously early, but the Canucks are playing well - particularly Luongo - as they begin with a 1-0-1 mark. Florida must wonder if they’re off to another slow start as the team begins the season 0-2. Again, judging too much of the events at this point is hasty, but I still wonder if Vokoun will follow in Luongo’s footsteps and end up getting traded to a contender before the season is over.