Luongo becomes second goalie with 200 wins for two NHL teams

NEWARK, N.J. -- Roberto Luongo isn't a numbers guy per se.
"Other than my save percentage, I don't look at much," the Florida Panthers goalie said.
So, it's not necessarily surprising then that Luongo said he didn't know about the milestone he achieved Monday until a Panthers staffer told him he got it.

Luongo won his 200th game for Florida by making 23 saves in a
3-2 win against the New Jersey Devils
at Prudential Center. The 200 wins are significant because they put Luongo in the company of Hockey Hall of Famer
Patrick Roy
as the only goalies in NHL history to win 200 games with two teams.
Luongo had 252 wins for the Vancouver Canucks from 2006-14. Roy had 289 victories for the Montreal Canadiens and 262 for the Colorado Avalanche.
"I feel like guys are just making up stats now. Every game is something different," Luongo said. "I don't know what it means, to be honest with you. I think we needed to bounce back after last game against [the] Chicago [Blackhawks, a 4-1 loss]. We were disappointed with our effort. To me, that means more than a milestone."
Forgive Luongo for not getting nostalgic and sappy about the meaning of the win, the impact of the milestone and what it feels like to join Roy's company. He's not going to do that now, not when, as he said, he's in a rhythm, feeling good about his game and better about the Panthers' chances to overcome their slow start and claw back into the Stanley Cup Playoff race.
When Luongo says he doesn't know what the milestone means to him, which he did in a 1-on-1 interview with NHL.com immediately after taking off his soggy equipment and in his media scrum shortly after, he appears to be saying it genuinely.

He has four years remaining on his contract after this season. It's unclear how much longer Luongo is going to play or wants to play, but he's still playing at a high level, still piling up the wins because he's still one of the best in the League.
"I'm just trying to keep it going, focused on playing the best that I can on a daily basis," said Luongo, who is 38 and in his 18th NHL season. "Obviously, if you're playing well, you're going to give your team a chance to win and those wins and those milestones will come.
"That's stuff that I look at when it's all said and done. Right now, when you're in the moment, you don't want to think too much about those things. Other than you guys reminding me, I don't really think about it."
Others do, because while Luongo is trying to stay modest, those who know him best have no qualms about fawning over his accomplishments and what this latest milestone means in the grand scheme of his career.
"It shows his consistency, his longevity," said Devils goalie Cory Schneider, who was Luongo's backup in Vancouver from 2010-13. "To play and get to 400 wins period [is something], but to do it with two organizations, it means you're playing at a high level throughout your career. That's been his hallmark. He's always gone out there and played well no matter where he's been, no matter the situation. He's constantly put up good numbers and won games."

Schneider said Luongo has thrived because he's a tactician and a perfectionist.
"He wanted to do things until he got them right or until they felt right to him," Schneider said of what he remembers most from working with Luongo. "He didn't accept anything else. I think he reinvented himself as a goalie. He wasn't content to just sit back and let the game pass him by. He was ahead of the curve in trying to figure out ways to maintain his status as one of the elite guys in the League."
Luongo averaged 37 wins per season with the Canucks from 2006-12. He brought Vancouver to the brink of a Stanley Cup championship in
2011
, only to lose 4-0 against the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
He doesn't have a Stanley Cup ring, but he's up to 459 wins in his NHL career, fourth all time, 25 behind Hall of Famer
Ed Belfour
for third and 92 behind Roy for second. He has 56 more wins than his childhood idol, Hall of Famer
Grant Fuhr
.
Martin Brodeur
, who grew up a few blocks away from Luongo in St. Leonard, Quebec, is the NHL all-time leader with 691 wins.
"Everything he does back there makes us a better team," Panthers forward Vincent Trocheck said of Luongo. "He's our backbone. He makes big save after big save and gets us up on the bench and gives us the mentality that we need to get one for him."

Luongo somehow is still improving too. This season is a testament to that.
His .927 save percentage is tied for sixth among goalies with 10 or more starts (Luongo has 13). He had a .915 save percentage in 40 starts last season.
Luongo has a .936 save percentage (21 goals on 330 shots) in nine starts after missing six games because of a thumb injury (Oct. 21-Nov. 2), including .944 in his past eight (16 goals on 286 shots).
"Pretty special guy," Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. "It's nice to be on the same team as him."