GM Dale Tallon's signing of backup goaltender Al Montoya is proving to be yet another brilliant move. Roberto Luongo left the game against Carolina in the middle of the second period Wednesday night with an arm injury. Montoya came off the bench cold and preserved the shutout and Florida's 1-0 victory.

Montoya was in the news for all the right reasons on the last road trip when he beat the Anaheim Ducks in the Panthers dominant 6-2 win. But with Luongo being the workhorse he hasn't had much playing time. That makes what he has done all that more impressive.

His 1-1-1 record this season comes with a .926 save percentage and 1.99 GAA. He did have one poor game against Calgary in which he gave up 5 goals, but his stats show how well he's played in his other games. The combined shutout on Wednesday was a perfect example of how valuable he has become to the team.

It is fitting Montoya is the first Cuban-born player to ever play in the NHL and is in South Florida. His talent and heritage are perfect for this team. Affectionately called the Big Cubano, Montoya has been a big hit both on and off the ice and is a nice piece of the locker room that Tallon has meticulously assembled.

Montoya will likely be called into starting duty tonight against Ottawa as Luongo heals. Unlike year's past Panther fans can feel comfortable that they will get a strong performance out of their backup goaltender. The Senators have only 4 wins in their last 10 games, so this might be the right kind of team for Montoya to be facing for his first start in almost two weeks.

Regarding Luongo, he said his "freak injury" had never happened before and occurred on a Carolina dump in. While NHL teams are very secretive about the specifics of player injuries, he did say he pulled something in his arm that became more painful minutes after the initial injury. Most people thought the injury happened on this unbelievable save:

At today's morning skate he mentioned the injury happened before this play, surprising many. But he said he's feeling a lot better and does not expect to miss much time at all.

This time last year, the Panthers were already 11 points out of a playoff spot. Today they are just 3 points out. Solid goaltending and a scoring-by-committee approach has kept the Panthers formidable and tough to play against. The Senators are just 2 points ahead of the Panthers, making tonight a very important game before Florida heads out for a short two-game road trip against Columbus and Detroit.

Dan Spiegel...
Florida Panthers Media

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