Luongo out 'extended period of time' for Panthers

Florida Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo will be out for several weeks with a lower-body injury, coach Bob Boughner said Wednesday.
"Whether that's three weeks, four weeks, five weeks; we'll see how his rehab goes," Boughner said. "Definitely out for a while. Obviously lower body, and it's going to be an extended period of time."

Luongo was injured Monday against the New York Islanders when he made a pad save with his right leg on a slap shot by Ryan Pulock at 2:31 of the second period. Luongo immediately lay on his stomach and then didn't put any weight on his right leg when he was being helped off by two trainers.
Luongo left with the score tied 1-1 after making 12 saves. James Reimer made 16 saves in relief in a 5-4 shootout loss.

Reimer will start Thursday when the Panthers play the Winnipeg Jets at BB&T Center (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-F, TSN3, NHL.TV).
Luongo had hip labrum surgery in May 2016 and missed the final six weeks of last season with hip problems, but Boughner said this injury is not related to those issues.
"It's not the hip, I can tell you that," he said. "When he went down, everybody was worried about that."
Luongo was out almost eight weeks (24 games) with a groin injury during the 2008-09 season, when he was with the Vancouver Canucks.
Reimer is 4-6-3 this season with a 3.67 goals-against average and .892 save percentage. He started six consecutive games from Oct. 21-Nov. 2 when Luongo was out with a hand injury.
"Last time he had to be in this position, there were some ups and some downs, but for the most part he's a good goalie and we have to support him," Boughner said. "We weren't as good back then as we are now defensively, so we're looking to help him out a little more. We've got to make sure we give him good support and [Reimer] will make the saves. All I ask of him, and he knows this, is to give us a chance to win. And if he gives us a chance to win, we'll be in every game.
"We've had some good talks the last couple of days. I think he's ready to accept the challenge once again. If you watch his practice habits and watch how he hard he works off the ice, he's a pretty dedicated athlete."

Reimer, 29, is 113-100-31 with a 2.79 GAA and .914 save percentage in eight NHL seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, San Jose Sharks and Panthers.
"It's how my career has been, many opportunities in many different scenarios where I've been playing a lot of games," Reimer said. "Not much really changes. ... The trick to it is just sticking with it. You don't have to change much, you just keep playing your game and having a belief in yourself and your teammates and the chips are going to fall where they fall.
"Every day you try to be consistent, try to be your best. I'll try to do [Luongo] justice and play well in his absence."
The Panthers recalled goaltender Harri Sateri from Springfield of the American Hockey League on Wednesday, and Boughner didn't rule out the possibility of acquiring another goaltender.
"We definitely have to look at other options out there to give [Reimer] some help," he said. "We have Sateri, [who] can play some games. We'll try to find a fit."
Luongo has 459 wins, fourth in NHL history behind Martin Brodeur (691), Patrick Roy (551) and Ed Belfour (484). Luongo and Roy are the only goalies to win 200 games with two teams; Luongo won 252 games for the Canucks from 2006-14 and has 200 wins with Florida. Roy had 289 victories for the Montreal Canadiens and 262 for the Colorado Avalanche.