FHN Daily: Luongo, Gallant win Gold for Canada v. Lundell and Finland

The Florida Panthers — past, current and future — were well represented in the Gold Medal game of the IIHF World Championships on Sunday with GM Roberto Luongo and coach Gerard Gallant being on the winning side as Team Canada beat Anton Lundell and Finland 3-2 in overtime in Riga, Latvia.

Luongo, who retired from the Panthers and the NHL in 2019, was GM of Team Canada for the first time.

Currently a special assistant to Florida GM Bill Zito, Luongo is also an assistant to Doug Armstrong for Canada’s men’s Olympic team.

Gallant, of course, coached the Panthers for parts of three seasons from 2014-16.

He is currently one of the top coaching free agents in the NHL after being let go by Vegas last season. Gallant has reportedly interviewed with the Rangers and Blue Jackets.

Gallant’s first head coaching job was in Columbus and he is still fond of the place.

Lundell was Florida’s first-round pick of the 2020 NHL Draft, being taken 12th overall. Lundell led Finland in scoring at the World Championships with four goals and seven points in 10 games. He did not find the scoresheet on Sunday.

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For Luongo, this was his third Gold medal at the Worlds — and obviously his first as an executive. Luongo was with the Panthers during the playoffs and missed Canada’s 0-3 start at the Worlds. Things looked bleak with losses to Latvia, the U.S. and then Germany.

Things obviously turned around.

Lundell, 19, is expected to be heading to South Florida soon and be part of the 2021-22 Panthers.

This past season, he scored 16 goals with 25 points in 26 games for HIFK in the Liiga. He is expected to compete for the second center spot on the Panthers in camp.

Legend. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/Sx6Qm1ubS3

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 6, 2021

On Sunday, Nick Paul scored 6:26 into overtime on an assist from Ottawa teammate Connor Brown to lead Canada to its 3-2 win.

Maxime Comtois and Adam Henrique also scored for Canada; Mikael Ruohomaa and Petteri Lindbohm scored for Finland.

In the Bronze medal game, Team USA beat Germany 6-1.

Now, on to the latest edition of the FHN Daily!

FLORIDA PANTHERS LINKS

In case you missed it, Sasha Barkov was named one of the three finalists for the Selke Trophy which goes to the NHL forward who “demonstrates the most skill in the defensive component of the game.’’

Patrice Bergeron and Mark Stone are the other finalists for the Selke.

Sasha Barkov shows off the Miami Heat cap he dug out of the ballcaps thrown onto the ice to celebrate his second NHL hat trick during the 2018-19 season. Barkov’s friend bought the cap at a Heat game the two attended the night before and threw it onto the ice to celebrate the hat trick. // Photo by @GeorgeRichards

I wrote a story about Barkov’s upcoming summer, one in which he will not only likely win the team’s first Selke, but he should also be named to the All-NHL team for 2021 and potentially be a finalist for the Hart Trophy.

Oh yeah; Barkov can also sign a long-term contract extension with the Panthers in July.

Don’t worry. They’re working on it. (Florida Hockey Now)

— Before the playoffs started, Barkov spoke to FHN about his season and various other things. It’s worth checking out as well. (FHN)

— Also, Zito spoke to the media last week to wrap up the Panthers’ season. Lots of good stuff here. (FHN)

AROUND THE NHL

Speaking of former Panthers, our old pal Jonathan Marchessault got a hat trick on Sunday night as the Vegas Golden Knights tied up their series with the Avs 2-2.

Marchessault becomes the third Vegas player in its long history to get a hat trick in the playoffs joining Mattias Janmark and Stone. Vegas was hopping on Sunday night.

Colorado now heads home — and home teams are unbeaten in this series. At least so far. (CHN)

— The Canadiens are doing it again as they blew out the Jets in Game 3 and are on the verge of being in the NHL’s Final Four. Montreal is a win away from being in the NHL’s semifinals. (TSN)

— And, once the Canadiens get in, there will be more playoff games in Montreal after Canada agrees to open up the border to U.S.-based teams without a quarantine. (NBC Sports)

— Evgeni Malkin has knee surgery and will likely be out of the Penguins lineup for some time. (PHN)

— The Islanders evened up their series with the Bruins and there will be at least one more game in the Coliseum. Perhaps more than that. (NYIHN)

— The Bruins’ blueliners could have been better against the Islanders in Game 4. (BHN)

— What may the Detroit Red Wings be up to this offseason? Kevin Allen has some suggestions. (DHN)

— The Flyers announced that Ian Laperriere will be the new head coach of the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms. (PHN)

— What are the Sharks going to do with the No. 7 pick? (SJHN)

LOCALS ONLY

Hey, hey, hey! The Miami Marlins are back in the win column!

The Fish snap their long losing streak in Pittsburgh but have to extend this long road trip with a return to Boston for a makeup game at Fenway on Monday. (Miami Herald)

— A look behind the scenes from Dan Le Batard’s marathon broadcast from the one-and-only Greg Cote. (MH)

— The Miami Hurricanes saw an easy route out of the Gainesville Regional with the Gators out after two games disappear as their bats apparently stayed behind in Coral Gables.

Miami opened with a win over South Alabama then lost to USF before being eliminated Sunday by the same Jaguars team they beat on Friday. (MH)

— Should Mark Clayton be in the Hall of the Fame? Just look at his numbers. (MH)

— Will the Heat look at using Bam Adebayo a little differently? (Sentinel)