Roberto Luongo returned to help his Florida Panthers to a 3-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Monday.
Luongo missed the last two games for Florida with an upper body injury, but appeared to be in top form for this one. The goalie stopped all 28 attempts that were sent his way and showed no signs of a lingering issue. The Panthers went 1-1 while Luongo was out.
The Panthers have been winning every other game as of late and are now 18-16-8 on the season. If Florida is going to contend for a playoff spot, this could end up being an important win. The Devils are four points back of the Panthers following this game.
The first goal of the game came towards the end of the first period during a Florida power play. It was Reilly Smith who found the back of the net with his eighth goal of the season, and the score came with help from Vincent Trocheck and Jussi Jokinen.
With New Jersey running out of time late, it pulled goalie Cory Schneider from the ice. The Panthers took advantage of the empty net with two additional goals. The scores came from Trocheck and Jokinen and were both unassisted.
Florida had plenty of chances to increase the lead before those late goals, but did not take advantage of the chances. The Panthers were only 1-6 on their power play advantages.
Florida will stay in the Northeast and will take on the New York Islanders in Brooklyn on Wednesday.
