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. Luongo made 25 saves, wh

  • August 12, 2019

    SUNRISE, Fla. Nike Roshe Run Saldi . -- Robert Luongos return to Florida couldnt have been better. Luongo made 25 saves, while Dmitry Kulikov and Jesse Winchester each scored power-play goals to lead the Panthers over the Buffalo Sabres 2-0 on Friday night. Luongo, acquired in a trade with Vancouver on Tuesday, was in net for the first time for Florida since April 18, 2006. Luongo previously played for Florida from 2000-2006. "Kudos to all the guys in front of me tonight. It was really a team effort," Luongo said. "Shutouts are always nice, but at the end of the day its about the wins. We did a good job." Luongo received a warm reception from the fans, with chants of "Louuuuu" resonating from the stands after every save. "It was nice. It was a great reception right off the start of the game," Luongo said. It was the fourth shutout of the season for Luongo. His last was on Dec. 13, a 4-0 win for Vancouver over Edmonton in which he made 19 saves. It was the first regular-season shutout for the Panthers since a 2-0 win over Carolina on March 11, 2012 in which Jose Theodore had 34 saves. Michal Neuvirth stopped 42 shots in his first start for Buffalo since being acquired from Washington last Wednesday. It was a great performance by Neuvirth, seeing his first action since before the Olympic break. "This was my first time with a new team; for sure I was nervous," Neuvirth said. "Ive been practicing hard, but a game is a different story." The Panthers won for just the second time in seven games. The Sabres lost their second in six games. Florida went ahead 2-0 on its second power-play goal. Kulikov took a slap shot from above the right circle that beat Neuvirth on the stick side at 4:04 of the second period. Neuvirth never saw it coming as he was screened on the play. "I?just saw a bunch of bodies in front of the net," Kulikov said. "I was screaming for the puck because I was wide open." The Panthers scored two power-play goals for the third time this season. The last time was Dec. 3 against Ottawa. The Panthers grabbed a 1-0 lead when Winchester took a pass from Scottie Upshall in the low slot and flipped it over Neuvirths glove midway in the first period. The goal came with just 5 seconds left in a power play that lasted 6:30, including a 5-on-3 for 25 seconds. The Panthers have been woeful on the power play, entering the game 30th in the league. That extended penalty was due to a delay of game on Matt DAgostini. About 30 seconds later, Buffalos Marcus Foligno drew a five-minute major and a game misconduct when he drove Brandon Pirri into the boards. Pirri left briefly, but returned later in the period. "I dont think it was worthy of getting kicked out of the game," Foligno said. "That put our team in a tough position and I think it was a tough call to make." The Sabres were outshot 30-13 through the first two periods, and 44-25 in the game. They may have been sluggish after playing their second game in as many nights, beating Tampa Bay 3-1 on Thursday. That victory was costly as the Sabres lost forwards Zemgus Girgensons and Chris Stewart with lower body injuries. "Back-to-back games this late in the season, its tough for anybody," Sabres coach Ted Nolan said. "For two nights in a row, it was really tough." It didnt get any better on Friday, as defenceman Alexander Sulzer suffered a lower body injury and will be out one to two weeks, according to Nolan. The Panthers were awarded a penalty shot in the second period when Drew Stafford tripped Sean Bergenheim skating in on Neuvirth. But Neuvirth easily stopped Bergenheims shot with his stick. NOTES: Buffalo recalled Luke Adam and Nicolas Deslauriers from AHL Rochester due to injuries. Both played in Fridays game, with Deslauriers making his NHL debut. ... Florida C Vincent Trocheck made his NHL debut after being called up from AHL San Antonio on Wednesday. ... Upshall has six points in his last seven games. Nike Roshe Run Scontate .5 million. The 25-year-old Varlamov is thriving under first-year coach and Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy, posting a 26-9-5 record with a 2. Air Jordan Shop Italia . Lost to Los Angeles in first round of playoffs. BOSTON -- Carey Price offered the tiniest hint of a smile after sending the Boston Bruins home for the summer. "Im ecstatic," said the Canadiens goalie in the wake of backstopping Montreal to the Eastern Conference final against the New York Rangers. Considering it normally takes the Hubble Telescope to spot a change in Prices emotions, Wednesday was a night to remember. The Canadiens, who finished eight places and 17 points back of the league-leading Boston during the regular season, made it so by dispatching the big bad Bruins 3-1 in Game 7. Price, as he has been through the series, was all-world -- even reportedly addressing his teammates prior to the third period. Dale Weise, Max Pacioretty and Daniel Briere provided the offence as Montreal rose to the occasion of Game 7 better than the Bruins. Now the Habs must reload and refocus on the Rangers, a team coming off an emotional series win over Pittsburgh. "Its not over. Were only halfway there," cautioned Price. For the Canadiens, the win over Boston was all about respect. They were tired of being written off as also-ran Smurfs and fed up with what they saw as Bostons macho posturing. "Beating those guys, it just feels that much sweeter," said Weise, who as a former Vancouver Canuck has no love for Boston. "They just disrespected us in every single way and I didnt think they had any respect for us as a team," he added. "Well leave it at that." Said defenceman P.K. Subban: "A lot of people were saying Dont poke the bear. Well I thought they gave us many reasons to keep competing throughout the whole series ... Against a bigger, stronger, more experienced team, we pulled out a victory. Thats a character win for us. Thats a character series win for us." The chip on Montreals shoulder was the size of Mount Rushmore. Weise did not spare the media, turning his attention to TSNs hockey panel as one of its members stood on his right shoulder. "We were very comfortable playing that team," Weise said of Boston. "I think everyone else doubted us. I heard someone on the TSN panel actually say they were the perfect hockey club. I dont know what that says about us now." Said Subban: "It come down to respect. Weve done a lot of great things in this league since Ive been here, our teams done a lot but we failed to get the respect that I think we deserved. And I think we earned that." While there were the traditional handshakes after the game, there was also bad blood. "Milan Lucic had a few things to say to a couple of guys," said Weise, who declined to go into specifics. Lucic was unrepentant: "Its said on the ice so itll stay on the ice. If he (Weise) wants to be a baby about it -- he can make it public." Montreal coach Michel Therrien was cagey when asked about the disrespect issue. "Im not going to talk about the other team," said Therrien. "I never talk about the other team. One thing I could tell you we were a group that was really really motivated to win this series." He made the comment in both French and English just so the message got across. He too clearly felt his club won more than a playoff round. "Respect, youve got to earn it and I think tonight those guys earned it," said Therrien. Boston coach Claude Julien had his own take on the series, which came complete with chest-pounding, muscle-flexing and crest-pointing. "I dont think we disrespected them," he said. "Theres a rivalry here. We dont like each other, because its a rivalry. "At the same time, the pounding of the chest, people who have been here have seen us do that all year. Because its related to Boston Strong. Our guys take some pride in whats happened in Boston Strong and unfortunately everything we did seemed to be seen as disrespect in Montreal. "We heard a lot of that whining throughout the series but it had nothing to do with disrespect." Julien called it gamesmanship, the kind seen in every playoff round. "Its too bad that it gets blown out of proportion. But you know what, they won the series fair and square. They were the better team tonight and you have to respect that." The Canadiens showed character in the series, staving off elimination with a masterful performance in Game 6 in Montreal. They also showed lots of savvy. Montreal targeted Bruins captain Zdeno Chara, making the 37-year-old look slow and laboured. They also pressured Bostons young defenders, denying them avenues to advance the puck out of their end. The series was like rolling a boulder uphill for the Bruins, who rarely got their game going. Boston was touted as the team with all the depth but it was Montreal that got prroduction from different quarters while the Bruins sputtered. Nike Roshe Run Saldi Online. Julien had said Game 7s deserved your best. The Bruins failed to deliver for much of the night despite outshooting Montreal 30-18. "Carey Price was outstanding," said Julien. "He gave them a chance to win every night." The Canadiens started fast and then stymied the Bruins, winners of the Presidents Trophy for the best regular-season record, to move deeper in the playoffs. Jarome Iginlas goal, which cut the Canadiens lead to 2-1 with 2:08 remaining in the second, set the scene for a dramatic third period. Iginla, pouncing on a rare Price rebound, hit the post early on. Boston pressed but the Canadiens held fast and Price, improving his record in elimination games in 2014 to 5-0 including the Olympics, was rock-solid with a disciplined team defending in front of him. The late Boston surge was not helped by a Johnny Boychuk penalty for interference with 4:31 remaining. Montreal scored on the ensuing power play when Brieres centring pass bounced in off Zdeno Charas skate at 18:07 to pad the lead to 3-1. Montreal killed off a late interference penalty to Andrei Markov -- and a 6-on-4 Boston opportunity -- to seal the win. The game drew two sellouts: 17,565 at TD Garden and some 21,000 at the Bell Centre, where fans paid $10 to watch the game on the video scoreboard with proceeds going to charity. They saw a contest in which both teams seemed at times weighed down by the occasion early on, knowing there could be an entire off-season to ponder a costly mistake. "Its disappointing," said Julien. "I cant stand here and say its not disappointing. In my mind, we were going to move forward. We were going to win this game and thats what I prepared myself for." The series has been a roller-coaster ride with no shortage of subplots, most of which involved Subban whose star continues to grow. When he wasnt firing bullets from the blue-line or skating circles, the flamboyant Canadiens defenceman was dodging water aimed his way from the Boston bench and dealing with racism on social media. Subban embraced the attention and found himself in the spotlight again ahead of Game 7 when he pointed to the crowd, noise and energy in Bostons TD Garden before saying: "I cant wait to take that all away from them." Subban focused on the task at hand Wednesday, forgoing the flash. In a series where the team scoring the first goal had won all six previous outings, a fast start was mandatory. Especially when teams scoring first in Game 7s were 112-40 (.737). Advantage Montreal as the visitors went ahead on their first shot, thanks to the fourth line, at 2:18 after Tuukka Rask kicked out what looked like an innocent long shoot-in. But Brandon Prust retrieved the puck and found Briere who sent a pass through Matt Bartkowski and Daniel Paille in front. Weise swept it in from Rasks doorstep. Boychuk and Gregory Campbell both tried to hit Prust on the play, opening space for others. The second period started poorly for Boston with Marchand sent to the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct for a snow shower aimed at Price. That call prompted garbage thrown from the stands. Boston dug itself out of that hole and looked to fight back. But it was the Canadiens who scored at 10:22 after Boston failed to clear its zone. A diving Brandon Gallagher somehow found five-foot-seven David Desharnais, who emerged with the puck after Loui Eriksson, Soderberg and Bergeron failed to deal with it. Desharnais headed towards goal but rather than shooting, sent a no-look pass to Pacioretty to his right. The Montreal sniper rifled a shot into the goal before Rask could slide to the other side of the crease. Desharnais, under fire for his sub-par performance for much of the series, had a whale of game. Boston finally beat Price on the power play on an Iginla tip of a Torey Krug shot at 17:58. The goal, which came with seven seconds left in a Pacioretty penalty, ended Prices shutout streak of 103 minutes 46 seconds. The series was the 34th between the Bruins and Canadiens and marked the ninth time -- a record in North American pro sports -- that a Game 7 was required. Montreal now holds a 6-3 advantage. The Bruins had the last laugh last time out, with Nathan Horton scoring at 5:43 of overtime to give Boston a 4-3 victory in the 2011 Eastern Conference quarter-finals. Boston went on to win the Stanley Cup. Montreal upped its advantage to 25-9 in the playoff meetings between the two Original Six rivals. Its the first Conference final for the Habs since 2010 when they fell to the Flyers in a five-game series. And only their second since 1993 when they won their last Stanley Cup. ' ' '