Roberto Luongo Gets NHL Honor, Panthers Tie Up Leafs

SUNRISE — Roberto Luongo was named to the NHL Quarter-Century Team on Sunday, a class of goalies chosen by fans who voted on a 25-man squad. Luongo was honored on the day the Panthers evened up their second-round series with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

While Luongo had most of his NHL success with the Vancouver Canucks, few players in history have meant more to the Panthers.

He was drafted in the first round by the Islanders, then traded to Florida in 2000.

Mike Keenan shipped Luongo to Vancouver in a lopsided deal (for the Canucks) in 2006 — with Dale Tallon bringing him back in 2014.

Luongo, who is a special advisor to Bill Zito and runs Florida’s goalie department, was honored during the Panthers 2-0 win over Toronto in Game 4 of their second-round series on Sunday night.

He was one of six goaltenders voted by fans as part of the 25-man squad, joining Marc-Andre Fleury, Martin Brodeur, Patrick Roy, Carey Price, and Henrik Lundqvist.

A first-ballot Hall of Famer, Luongo is the only player whom the Panthers have honored by retiring his number.

Luongo, who is a native of Montreal but has made his home in Broward for decades, owns the all-time Panthers franchise goaltending records for games played (572), wins (230), shutouts (38), saves (16,086), assists/points (13), single-season games played by a goaltender (75, 2005-06), single-season saves (2,303) and single-season shutouts (tied-7, 2003-04).

His 2,303 saves in 2006-07 remains the post-1967 expansion record for most saves in a single season, posting a .931 save percentage and 2.43 goals against average that year with Florida.

Congrats to Lu.

Certainly deserved.

FLORIDA PANTHERS / FHN

• Max Domi drilled Sasha Barkov in the final seconds of Florida’s series-tying win and adds a little more spice to what should be a hot gumbo come Wednesday in Toronto.
• This series was close. Now it’s really tight.
• They got gumbo in Toronto? Anyway, the Panthers absolutely dominated the Leafs on Sunday night.
• Florida got things going in Game 4 as it hoped it would.
• The home teams are 2-0 thus far in the series.
• The Panthers are champions for a reason. The Leafs found that out Sunday.
• Toronto needs to regroup and the Leafs figure they can do just that.
• The Charlotte Checkers survive and move on, beating Providence after coming home up 2-0 in their second-round playoff series. Geordie Kinnear and the boys now get the Hersey Bears.
• Jonah Gadjovich has been a big part of the Panthers the past two seasons — but Friday was the first time he played in a postseason game. More are coming.
• After Friday night, Brad Marchand is now part of Florida Panthers lore.
• Don’t forget to subscribe to the FHN YouTube channel to watch video interviews with the Florida Panthers throughout the postseason. Sunday brought us a boatload of pre- and postgame video from Maurice, Matthew Tkachuk, Seth Jones, Craig Berube, Sergei Bobrovsky, Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett, and Gus Forsling. More coming later today, but you knew that.

NHL LINKS / NHL NEWS

• Our old friend Alex Petrovic is proving himself all over again with Pete DeBoer and the Stars, with his ‘lucky’ goal helping Dallas beat Winnipeg in Game 3. No kidding, good for Petro. This recent run of success is well deserved. He worked hard for it.
• The Capitals need more from Alex Ovechkin if they want to take out Carolina.
• Mark Stone is questionable for Vegas in Game 4 against the Oilers.
• Stone’s Vegas Golden Knights simply stunned Edmonton on Saturday night. Reilly Smith, Petrovic’s former teammate in Sunrise, won Game 3 in the final second.
• It was like old times watching Sidney Crosby and Fleury team up for a win. This time, it was for Team Canada.
• Ranking the coaching candidates for the Philadelphia Flyers.

2025 NHL STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS: GAME 4

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS @ FLORIDA PANTHERS 

Best-of-7 series tied 2-2

• When: Wednesday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto
• National TV: ESPN
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Series Schedule — Game 1: @Toronto 5, Florida 4; Game 2: @Toronto 4, Panthers 3; Game 3: @Florida 5, Toronto 4 (OT); Game 4: @Florida 2, Toronto 0; Game 5: Wednesday @Toronto, 7 (ESPN); Game 6: Friday @Florida TBA (TNT/truTV); Game 7*:Sunday May 18 @Toronto TBA (TNT/truTV).
• How They Got Here: Toronto d. Ottawa 4-2; Florida d. Tampa Bay 4-1
• This Regular Season: Panthers Won 3-1; Last Regular Season: Tied 2-2
• All-time Regular Season Series: Toronto leads 51-40-7, 7 ties
• All-time Postseason: Panthers d. Toronto 4-1 (2023 ECS)