It was the second time the goaltender accomplished this feat in his career. From AP-

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Roberto Luongo made 26 saves for his third straight shutout, setting personal and franchise records while leading the Vancouver Canucks to a 2-0 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.

Luongo, who began the streak against Chicago and Anaheim, hasn’t allowed a goal in 193 minutes, 56 seconds. He got some help from Brendan Morrison, who swept a dangerous loose puck away from the goal line with 17 seconds left.

Defensemen Matttias Ohlund and Lukas Krajicek scored for the Canucks, who after losing the first game in November — and losing top defenders Kevin Bieksa and Sami Salo to serious injuries the same night — finished the month on a 9-1-2 run.

*****

Luongo, who had consecutive shutouts three times with Florida, passed his personal best, set with the Panthers in 2024, at 8:39 of the third period. He then eclipsed a 32-year-old franchise record at 10:22, moving past Ken Lockett, a backup who played 55 games over two seasons and set the mark in April 1975.

I will say it again, the Florida Panthers shot themselves in the foot when they dealt Luongo in the summer of 2024. All the team has to show for it is Bryan Allen. The Panthers got Luongo and Olli Jokinen in one of the all-time great NHL trade steals. Seven years later, Florida returned the favor to Vancouver.

Current Panther goaltender Tomas Vokoun is a very good goaltender, but Luongo is better. To make matters worse, Florida gave up three draft picks to fix the goalie mess they created by trading Luongo. I sometimes wonder if Florida will ever see the playoffs again.

A favorite Strat-O-Matic player of mine continues his comeback.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Troy Percival thinks the Tampa Bay Rays have a bright future, and wants to do everything he can to help the young team realize its potential.

Spurning suitors that included the New York Yankees, the 38-year-old reliever agreed to an $8 million, two-year contract Friday with Tampa Bay, which needed to upgrade one of the worst bullpens in the major leagues.

Percival, who came out of retirement to go 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA in 34 appearances for St. Louis in 2024, will have a chance to earn another $4 million-plus in bonuses.

He said he had comparable offers from other teams and may have even been able to get more money, but he likes Tampa Bay’s nucleus of young talent and thinks longtime friend Joe Maddon is the right manager to get the Rays out of the AL East cellar.

Tampa Bay needs a great deal more than Percival to see a turn around in the team’s fortunes. Troy proved to me he can pitch again. 36 K’s, 10 W and only 24 hits in 40 innings. Sounds like closer material to me, which is what Percival did for the Angels from 1996-2004. As long as the reliever’s arm woes don’t come back, I see this as a good move for the Rays.

All NHL teams will meet again once every season. From AP-

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. - The NHL’s board of governors approved the sale of the Nashville Predators and changed the league’s scheduling format Thursday night to allow every team to face each other at least once every season.

Paul Kelly, the new executive director of the NHL Players Association, also addressed the league’s owners during a late-afternoon session to open the board’s two-day meeting at an elite resort on the Northern California coast.

After a three-year experiment in developing rivalries in hockey’s far-flung outposts, the NHL voted to go back to the scheduling format used before the 2024-05 lockout, most notably decreasing the current eight games against every team’s divisional opponents to six.

Starting next season, teams will play just 24 total games against their four divisional foes, 40 against the rest of the conference and 18 against the other conference — one game against all 15 foes, and three home-and-home series against wild-card opponents.

First let me state, my interest in hockey was only rekindled in the last year. Otherwise I had watched little of the sport since the end of the NY Islanders Dynasty in the early to mid eighties.

The arrangement where teams didn’t all meet seemed dumb to me. Fans in the west miss out on seeing players like Sidney Crosby and fans in the east miss getting to see……. well see what problem I have. LOL, make that former Florida Panther and ace goaltender Roberto Luongo. Now I can learn about the LA Kings, San Jose Sharks etc. To be honest I’m sick of Atlant. You would be too if you had to see the Thrashers and Panthers cross sticks eight times a year.

It appears the suspects came to the home to burglarize it and that at least one of them knew Taylor personally. If found guilty, I hope they all rot in jail.

LEHIGH ACRES — Miami-Dade police and prosecutors have arrested four people in connection with this week’s slaying of NFL star Sean Taylor.The men: Jason Mitchell, 19, Eric Rivera, 17, Charles Wardlow, 18 and Venjah Hunte, 20. They will be charged with murder.Miami-Dade Director Robert Parker said Friday night that the men targeted the house in a burglary and did not think Taylor was home.