Four things we learned in NHL: Luongo joins elite company

Roberto Luongo was perfect in net and Aaron Ekblad scored a beautiful game-winner early to get the Panthers a 2-0 win over the Canadiens.

Roberto Luongo moved one step closer to history in his hometown, a debutant had an impressive night while Pekka Rinne and the Predators cannot be stopped these days.

Here are four things we learned in the NHL on Monday.

Luongo joins elite company

On the night the Montreal Canadiens were shut out for the NHL-leading 12th time this season, it was a Montreal native who benefitted.

Roberto Luongo earned his 76th career shutout, tying Ed Belfour and Tony Esposito for ninth on the all-time list.

Luongo, 38, is five back of Dominik Hasek, “Tiny” Thompson and Alex Connell for sixth. He’s also 35 games behind Patrick Roy for second on the all-time appearances list, which he can achieve by next season.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist is still a long ways from catching Martin Brodeur in both categories, though. Luongo is 272 games back of Brodeur and needs 49 shutouts to match the former New Jersey Devils great.

Rinne, Predators keep streaking

The Nashville Predators are on a serious tear.

They crushed the Buffalo Sabres 4-0, extending their point streak to a franchise-record 15 games. Rinne also picked up the shutout and wrapped up his third season with at least 40 wins. Only Brodeur has more, and Rinne is tied with the likes of Terry Sawchuk and Jacques Plante.

Nashville still has a 10-point lead on top of the Central Division with 10 games left. At this point, the Preds are just jockeying for playoff seeding.

Donato Delight

Ryan Donato‘s 2018 has been quite eventful.

The former Harvard winger represented the United States in Pyeongchang last month, then signed a two-year deal with the Boston Bruins on Sunday. Twenty-four hours later, he scored his first goal and registered three points in his NHL debut.

The Bruins ended up losing 5-4 in overtime to the Columbus Blue Jackets, but it’ll be a day Donato won’t soon forget.

100 club for Ekman-Larsson

Welcome to the 100 goals club, Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

The 26-year-old scored his 100th and 101st career NHL goals in the Arizona Coyotes’ 5-2 win over the Calgary Flames, delivering another blow to the Flames’ playoff hopes.

Ekman-Larsson is just the second Coyotes defenceman to reach 100 career goals, and is just seven behind Teppo Numminen for the franchise record.

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