Luongo back in goal for Russian showdown with Ovechkin

Roberto Luongo will be back in Canada’s goal against Russia on Wednesday.

Head coach Mike Babcock confirmed he was sticking with Luongo shortly after he stopped 21 of 23 shots in Tuesday’s 8-2 win over Germany, and took issue with a question about Luongo’s lack of big-game experience compared to Martin Brodeur.

“Didn’t he win a World Cup? Wasn’t he the one that got Canada to the final?” Babcock replied in reference to the 2006 World Cup, in which Luongo replaced an injured Brodeur in the semi-final before giving the net back up for the final victory.

“It’s very easy to always say he didn’t do this or he didn’t do that,” continued Babcock. “I think his bank account shows that he is a good goalie. I know every time we play him he puts up this wall and I’m excited he’s playing net for us tomorrow. We’ve got a great big man in net. We’re going to give up some opportunities, that is just the reality of (the Russians) are that good. But he’s a big man and doesn’t let it go under him or through him and if they put it around him, we’ll line up for a faceoff and get on with it.”

The “under” and “through” references were to Brodeur, who struggled in Sunday’s 5-3 loss to the United States. Babcock pointed out after making the switch to Luongo that some of the goals that found holes in Brodeur’s stand-up style would have simply hit a big butterfly goalie like Luongo. As for the possibility the swift, skilled Russians could exploit Luongo off the rush more than Brodeur, who remains one of the world’s top one-on-one, read-and-react goaltenders, Babcock seems willing to live with that, trusting that his improving defense will be able to limit Russia’s odd-man chances off the rush.

“We need him to be fabulous for us and he has every chance to do that,” Babcock said.

Loungo is relishing that opportunity – and trying to steer clear of controversy.

“Twenty years from now, if we win, nobody will remember who played goal but they will remember that we won,” Luongo insisted, while at the same time calling Tuesday’s game the biggest of his career. “But hopefully it’s not the biggest game this week.”

Luongo is visibly excited at what could be a career-defining moment, one he waited for behind miserable teams in New York and Florida, and has failed to grasp so far in second-round playoff losses behind a better – but not great – Canucks team. He does have a pair of gold medals at the World Championships, including one where he came off the bench to spell an injured Sean Burke and lead Canada to gold. He also has a good history against Alex Ovechkin, going 10-1-0 with a .933 save percentage against Washington since the Russian superstar joined the Capitals, stopping Ovechkin on three shootouts.

Luongo knows, however, that this is different. Not only is Ovechkin surrounded by an incredible cast of offensive stars – Evgeni Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk, Ilya Kovalchuk and Alexander Semin to name a few – but the pedigree of his own supporting cast, and the long history between the countries means anything less than a victory, no matter how things play out, will be a blight on his record that only a Stanley Cup will erase.

“You have to deal with the pressure and rise to the occasion,” Luongo said. “There’s a lot of history behind (the rivalry with Russia). It’s a big stage, the nerves are there, but it’s a good thing. It gets the adrenaline going it gets you a bit sharper, a bit more focused. I had a lot of fun out there (against Germany) and I’m sure I’ll have a lot more (on Wednesday). They have a lot of skill so we’ve got to play our game, be physical and not give those guys much room on the ice. And as far as I’m concerned just make sure that I play those guys aggressive. I know a lot of guys are shooters and I’ve got to be aware of that.”

Kevin Woodley is a rec-league target and former contributing editor of the Goalie News magazine. He has written about the Vancouver Canucks and NHL for The Associated Press, USA Today, Sports Illustrated and The Hockey News for the last decade, and is currently at the Olympics for AP.