Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Goalie nods: Backup extraordinaire Montoya gets the call versus Wings

Al Montoya

Florida Panthers goalie Al Montoya watches game action against the New Jersey Devils’ during the second period of a NHL hockey game in Sunrise, Fla., Saturday, Oct. 11, 2014. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

AP

The Florida Panthers have had no problem giving Roberto Luongo the odd night off this season. That’s because Al Montoya has been one of the best backups in the league.

Montoya (8-2-1, .931) will get the call tonight in Detroit, with Luongo (23-13-5, .930) expected to start tomorrow in Buffalo.

The Panthers have the highest team save percentage in the NHL, at .926 (which includes empty-net goals).

“They both give us a chance to win every night,” Panthers d-man Brian Campbell told the Miami Herald recently. “Both make huge saves for us at times. You need consistent saves every night and they both bring it. Montoya gets put into a tough spot a lot of times and nothing seems to change.”

Beyond Montoya, other NHL backups with particularly good numbers include the Flyers’ Michal Neuvirth (.933), the Kings’ Jhonas Enroth (.931), the Blues’ Brian Elliott (.930), the Islanders’ Thomas Greiss (.929), and the Wild’s Darcy Kuemper (.928).

Petr Mrazek will start for the Red Wings. He used to be Detroit’s backup, but he’s since surpassed Jimmy Howard for the starting job.

Elsewhere...

-- Cory Schneider for the Devils at MSG, versus Henrik Lundqvist for the Rangers.

-- John Gibson for the Ducks in Pittsburgh, versus Marc-Andre Fleury for the Penguins.

-- Andrei Vasilevskiy for the Lightning in Ottawa, versus Craig Anderson for the Sens.