Goaltending has played a significant role in the Florida Panthers’ rise this season, and that’s not limited to Roberto Luongo’s strong work.
Al Montoya is quietly putting together a fantastic season as a backup, but that’s in danger now, as Montoya won’t return because of an upper-body injury.
The Panthers didn’t elaborate any further regarding how serious this issue might be.
#FlaPanthers G Al Montoya suffered an upper body injury in today's game vs. Minnesota and will not return.
— Florida Panthers PR (@FlaPanthersPR) February 28, 2016
Montoya was hurt in a collision with Marco Scandella that some might blame on Panthers sophomore Aaron Ekblad.
Here it is in GIF form:
Marco Scandella hit Al Montoya in the head with an elbow, but Ekblad also pushed him pic.twitter.com/dmwo5p4dMx
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) February 28, 2016
2nd look at Scandella's collision with Montoya, and Ekblad's push pic.twitter.com/a1sqXp28Yk
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) February 28, 2016
If Montoya misses a significant amount of time, it will be interesting to see how the Panthers react: either going within their organization or looking to a trade/waiver pickup to provide security behind Luongo.
Of course, this could also just be a minor issue.