Roberto Luongo is being honest about his play and putting team above self.

Florida Panthers general manager and interim head coach Tom Rowe will give James Reimer the start Sunday against Ottawa, and based on how he's been playing lately, Luongo fully endorses the decision.

"Right now I don’t deserve to be playing. That’s the bottom line," Luongo said, according to George Richards of the Miami Herald. "For me, everything is about the team and us winning games. James Reimer gives us a better chance to win every night than I am. Until I figure my (game) out this is the way it should go I think."

Luongo hasn't been at his best in recent days. Over his past six starts, he's allowed 23 goals on 180 shots, good for a .872 save percentage. The Panthers have gone 4-2-0 in those games, but Reimer - who has started three of the past five games - is rolling with a .927 save percentage in February, and may be seeing the puck a bit better than his counterpart.

Florida enters Sunday's action sitting two points behind Boston in the race for a playoff spot, and can ill afford any missteps before the end of the season.

Reimer was signed to a five-year deal last summer as insurance for Luongo, who underwent shoulder labrum surgery around that time. Right now, that's looking like as shrewd a move as any the Panthers made in the offseason.

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January 18th, 2014.

For most, the date holds little significance, just another run of the mill Saturday in the heart of winter.

Unless of course, you're the Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans, who begrudgingly remember it as the last time they defeated the Montreal Canadiens.

Yes, that's right, thanks to Andrew Shaw's dramatic overtime winner Saturday night, the Habs own a 14-game winning streak over their oldest rival, and will take the streak into the fall at least, as the season-series concluded with the agitator's slick finish in extra time.

The numbers, they do not lie:

Those are the results since Toronto's most recent triumph over Montreal, over three years ago now, when Phil Kessel assisted James van Riemsdyk's third period game-winning goal en route to a 5-3 victory.

The changeover

It's no secret, but both clubs have undergone drastic changes throughout Montreal's streak.

Only five players remain on Toronto's active roster since its last win over the Canadiens: van Riemsdyk, Nazem Kadri, Tyler Bozak, Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly. Not to mention, a new coach, general manager, and team president.

Montreal, meanwhile, has undergone plenty of roster turnover in its own right, namely swapping P.K. Subban for Shea Weber, among plenty of other deals and recently, hiring a new head coach.

The future

Despite the continued one-sided results, Saturday's contest offered something new: significance.

For the first time in a long time, Montreal and Toronto dueled with more than just pride on the line. Both teams are in the middle of a wide-open race in the Atlantic Division, and Saturday's electric atmosphere should serve as a barometer of what's in store for years to come.

Both the Maple Leafs and Canadiens find themselves in better positions for success than they did three years ago, and based on this season's narrow results, the historic rivalry is heating up once again.

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The Minnesota Wild have signed forward Ryan Carter to a one-year, two-way contract for the remainder of the season, general manager Chuck Fletcher announced Sunday.

Carter signed a PTO with the club on Feb. 18, and has since played three games with AHL affiliate Iowa.

The 33-year-old has been sidelined by shoulder surgery this season, but the new contract gives him postseason eligibility.

In 60 games with the Wild last season, Carter scored seven goals and added five assists in 60 games.

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The NHL's Department of Player Safety would like to speak with Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Brandon Manning.

A hearing has been scheduled for Monday after Manning caught Pittsburgh Penguins winger Jake Guentzel with an open-ice hit during Saturday's Stadium Series game.

Here's another look:

No penalty was called on the play, but the NHL is calling it interference and will issue a ruling following the hearing.

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Alex Ovechkin has never experienced this kind of drought.

The high-scoring Washington Capitals superstar was held without a shot on goal in Saturday's 5-2 loss to Nashville, marking the third time in his past seven games he's had a zero in that column.

Ovechkin did record six shot attempts, and appeared to score in the third period, but the goal was overturned due to an offside call and therefore no official shot was recorded.

"Obviously he's a shooter; he's got to get pucks to the net," head coach Barry Trotz said after the game, per CSN Washington. "He's a little off, a little bit off. Players will go through that."

For the season, Ovechkin has fired 223 shots on net in 61 games, good for an average of 3.65 per game. That's well down from his career average of 5.04 shots per game heading into this season. His 27 goals put him in a tie for the fifth-highest total in the NHL, seven back of Sidney Crosby.

At this point, it seems unlikely he'll win another Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL's top goal-scorer, especially if his shot rate doesn't rise. Still, Trotz doesn't appear overly worried.

"Ovi's pretty streaky if you look in his past," he said. "It wouldn't surprise me if he got 10 goals in the next five games. That's how he operates.

"Sometimes he'll go a little bit flat there. He's going through of a little of a dry spell, I think."

As long as the dam breaks a bit in the playoffs, then, the first-place Capitals will survive a brief dry spell during the regular season.

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A season full of uncertainty gave way to a glimmer of opportunity for the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, and the reason for the rediscovered optimism is simple: they have their goalie back.

In his first start since the season opener, 2012 Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Quick turned away 32 of 33 shots, backstopping a much-need victory for his club after missing 59 games with a groin injury.

The win put Los Angeles three points back of the second wild-card position in the West, and with Quick in goal, there's a new feeling among the club.

"He's probably the emotional leader in a lot of ways for our hockey club," head coach Darryl Sutter told Helene Elliott of The Los Angeles Times. "It's good to have him back in the room."

In the chippy win over rival Anaheim, the Kings netted four goals in a game for the first time in six contests, and having Quick between the pipes afforded them the chance to play confidently.

"Something about that guy, when you have him in the net, obviously it's a calming effect," captain Anze Kopitar said. "And I think anytime you can get a player of his caliber - not necessarily the goalie - getting back in the lineup, I think it kind of sparks the team, too.

Now, not too strenuously, the Kings will rely on their No. 1 down the stretch to ideally sneak into a playoff spot - a position that's worked well for them in the past.

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It was a night to remember in the Keystone State.

The hometown Pittsburgh Penguins defeated their cross-state rival Philadelphia Flyers in front of a full house Saturday at Heinz Field.

Here are some of the best photos from the NHL's latest Stadium Series success.

The stage was set ...

... and the theater was packed ...

.... much to the delight of Penguins owner and NHL legend Mario Lemieux.

The players were forced to make equipment adjustments based on the conditions.

Yes, there were actual penguins in the house.

Matt Cullen must have felt like one of the kids after scoring.

Matt Murray was inadvertently forced to take shelter.

Michal Neuvirth did his best to keep the Flyers in it.

Sidney Crosby, however, would not be denied, leading his Penguins to victory.

(Photos courtesy: USA Today Sports)

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Sometimes fighting on the ice just isn't enough.

That appeared to be the case during Saturday's AHL game between the Chicago Wolves (affiliate of the St. Louis Blues) and Minnesota's affiliate the Iowa Wild when a fight carried over from the ice to the locker rooms.

After Vince Dunn and Kurtis Gabriel were sent to the lockers following a late fight in the third period, the two were jawing at each other on the way back and eventually decided to reignite their scrap.

The pair had to be separated by security guards and other players, and with the two teams set to square off again on Sunday, this could get really interesting.

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