Roberto Luongo put together an excellent performance - the kind that argues in favor of him returning as Team Canada’s starter - but it wasn’t enough to earn the Vancouver Canucks a win on Saturday. Instead, Jonathan Quick got the win in his return as Los Angeles won 3-1.
Luongo, 34, was under fire for much of the contest. The Kings took the shot advantage over all three periods, most glaringly when they out-shot Vancouver 18-6 in the middle frame and 14-9 in the third. Overall, Luongo stopped 46 out of 48 shots in defeat.
Jeff Carter scored two goals (one was the game-winner while the other was an empty-netter). The Kings created a GIF of the 2-1 tally, which you’d probably agree is better than one can expect from a mere video:
Mesmerizing, eh?
Quick, 27, wasn’t challenged at the same rate as Luongo, but he improved his record to 11-5-0 nonetheless. That included some big late stops on Daniel Sedin.
This win also comes in the 1,000th game of Darryl Sutter’s coaching career. He’s now 486-362-101(ties)-50(overtime losses) in his time between the Chicago Blackhawks, San Jose Sharks, Calgary Flames and Kings. Yup, ties make more experienced coaches’ records tough to swallow, huh?
Anyway, if Quick beats out Ryan Miller and Jimmy Howard and Luongo edges the rest of the Canadian goaltending field to the point that both represent their countries at the Olympics, tonight’s game will be probably referenced. Otherwise, it will just be an interesting game between two strong teams.