Panthers' Luongo, Montoya day-to-day; Ellis recalled

Florida Panthers goalies Roberto Luongo (upper body) and Al Montoya (lower body) are each considered day-to-day after sustaining injuries Tuesday in a 3-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, coach Gerard Gallant said Wednesday.

Montoya is likely out weeks, according to TSN's Bob McKenzie, and Luongo is having tests on his shoulder and will see an orthopedist.

Veteran Dan Ellis was recalled from San Antonio of the American Hockey League and will start Thursday against the Dallas Stars. The Panthers (28-23-13, 69 points) continue a season-long seven-game homestand sitting two points behind the Boston Bruins for the second Eastern Conference wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"We're extremely confident in [Ellis]," Florida defenseman Erik Gudbranson told the Panthers website. "It's going to bring that urgency into this dressing room going forward. At the end of the day, we understand our playoffs start now for the rest of the season to get in that final spot, and if not we can get up higher. Having that urgency in that dressing room is going to be really good for our organization."

Ellis, 34, was acquired by the Panthers from the Stars in a trade for goalie Tim Thomas on March 5, 2014. Ellis is 83-76-17 with 14 shutouts in 204 NHL games with six teams.

"Dan Ellis is an NHL goalie, we know that," Gallant told the website. "He's played a lot of games in the League and he's won games, so we're confident in Dan. He's a good guy, a good person. He'll work hard and give us a chance to win. That's all we ask for. He's going to come up here and play hard. He's done a great job in San Antonio in a tough situation, where he went down there as an NHL goalie and played hard and battled hard. Now he gets his chance again, so it's great"

Goalie Sam Brittain, recalled from Cincinnati of the ECHL, will back up Ellis. A fourth-round pick (No. 92) of the Panthers in the 2010 NHL Draft, Brittain, 22, is 14-11-0 with four shutouts in 27 games with Cincinnati.

Luongo was injured Tuesday with 4:03 to play in the first period when he was hit on the side of the head by Toronto forward Leo Komarov's wrist shot. After being treated by trainers for several minutes, Luongo finished the period but did not come out for the second.

Montoya was injured 22 seconds into the third period after attempting to make a save on Maple Leafs defenseman Jake Gardiner's slap shot before center Nazem Kadri scored the game-tying goal on a rebound off the boards.

Luongo was at a hospital getting his shoulder examined when Montoya was injured and raced back to BB&T Center, according to TSN.

At the arena, Montoya returned to the ice after a delay while Panthers general manager Dale Tallon was in touch with the NHL in an attempt to get goaltending coach Robbie Tallas eligible to play.

The on-ice officials initially would not let Tallas in the game, but the League eventually approved Tallas, who hasn't appeared in an NHL game since 2001, to dress on an emergency basis, according to the Miami Herald. While this was going on, Montoya allowed the game-winning goal to Maple Leafs forward Peter Holland at 5:28 of the third.

Tallas, 41, never entered, and Luongo, who initially returned to the bench in street clothes, dressed and returned to the game with 9:08 left. Forward Derek MacKenzie also was being considered to play goalie.

"The only thing I could think of at the time was, when I skate out on the ice, do I go down and do what normal goalies do, shuffle the crease, push the snow to the side and act like I know what I was doing?" MacKenzie said. "That was my plan. After that I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I guess the more I think about it the more I think, what was I thinking?"

Rule 5.3 reads: "In regular League and Playoff games, if both listed goalkeepers are incapacitated, that team shall be entitled to dress and play any available goalkeeper who is eligible. This goalkeeper is eligible to sit on the player's bench, in uniform. In the event that the two regular goalkeepers are injured or incapacitated in quick succession, the third goalkeeper shall be provided with a reasonable amount of time to get dressed, in addition to a two-minute warm-up."

Tallon told the Herald after the game, "For our third goalie to go in, Robb Tallas, paperwork had to be cleared by the League before he could go in. The last time we did it, it was expired. It was a one-time PTO (pro tryout) and it had expired.

"The delay was we were debating whether to put a player in or wait to get Robb legal so he could go in. We were in communication with the League so he could go in. We had to keep Montoya in; then [Luongo] decided to come in and try and get us the win."