to watch his wife compete against the top fighters
SUNRISE, Fla. - Roberto Luongo played a big role in Saturday nights perfect performance for Floridas penalty killers.Luongo made 36 saves and rookie Aaron Ekblad scored his first NHL goal, leading the Panthers to a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.Captain Willie Mitchell also scored for Florida, which has won three of four. The Panthers killed off each of Philadelphias six power plays.Louie has been outstanding for us all year and again tonight he was real key at key times, especially on penalty kill, coach Gerard Gallant said. He was awesome.Luongo has stopped 107 of his last 111 shots, and the Panthers have picked up points in their last six games since a 1-0 loss to Ottawa on Oct. 13.I?feel pretty good. The puck is hitting me, Luongo said. Guys are playing hard and putting pressure on the players, not giving them time and space, which allows me to do my job a lot easier than in normal circumstances.Vincent Lecavalier spoiled Luongos bid for his second shutout of the season when he scored in traffic with 7.4 seconds left.Ekblad, the Panthers top pick in this years draft, converted a power-play slap shot from just inside the blue line, beating Philadelphia goalie Steve Mason on the short side at 15:38 of the third.Extreme thrill, the 18-year-old Ekblad said. Obviously, feelings that I felt in junior with my first goal and feeling it again here, its unbelievable. Its special.Mason, who is 0-4-1 in his last five starts, made 28 saves.Luongo faced his stiffest challenge with Jussi Jokinen (hooking) and Mitchell (delay of game) in the box, putting the Panthers at a 5-on-3 disadvantage for just over a minute in the third period.There is no room for excuses in this league. You just have to do whatever it takes to put the puck in back of the net and we didnt do that tonight, Flyers winger Wayne Simmonds said. Weve had opportunities, but were just not scoring. We just have to go back and look at the video and take it from there.Florida gave another blue-collar effort against the Flyers, who had won four of five and collected 15 goals in that stretch. The injury-riddled Panthers were playing without several key forwards, including Brandon Pirri and Dave Bolland.I?thought the guys who came into the lineup played real well and competed, Gallant said. The first 30 minutes I thought was excellent and after that we ran into penalty trouble and it took some momentum away from us.Mitchell took a feed from Jokinen behind the net and fired a one-timer from the point past Mason to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead 9:07 into the game.It was the first goal of the season for Mitchell, who signed with Florida on July 1 after spending the previous three seasons with Los Angeles. The defencemans shot went between Masons legs.Yes, I wont lie. I feel really good, Mitchell said. For me its playing against the top players and trying to shut them down with a good stick, playing good defence. Thats as good a feeling as scoring a goal.It was Masons first start since he lost 4-0 to Chicago on Oct. 21.Wins are not coming right now on the personal front but you just have to keep working and stay positive, Mason said. I was happy for the most part with my game tonight but when the goalie at the other end plays pretty much a perfect game, its tough to come out on the winning side.NOTES: The Panthers victory was only their second in the last eight games against Philadelphia in Sunrise. ... The Flyers also suffered their second loss in Florida in the past three days, dropping a 4-3 decision to Tampa Bay on Thursday. ... Florida has allowed only 17 non-shootout goals this season. ... Philadelphia is 1 for 19 with the man advantage over their last six games. ... Panthers D Rocco Grimaldi made his NHL debut, logging 6:11 of ice time. ... Jokinens assist on Mitchells goal was his fifth in the past four games. NMD China . - Houston defensive end J. NMD Wholesale . James Jones got his turn Sunday. And the lift he brought, combined with the expected playoff showings from LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, have the Heat off and running in these playoffs. https://www.cheapnmdoutlet.com/ .com) - Australian Open champion Li Na, former Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova and former world No. NMD Discount .J. -- Pete Carroll said it was the suspension of linebacker Bruce Irvin last spring that finally got the attention of the rest of the Seattle Seahawks that they needed to be taking their commitment to the team more seriously. NMD Online . Spains victory rendered Frances 3-0 win against Finland meaningless as Spain needed just one point to secure passage to Brazil. Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema scored either side of Joona Toivios own-goal as France advanced to the playoff among the eight best second-place finishers.Randa Markos remembers the moment she was finally free of The Ultimate Fighter house. For six weeks, the Iraqi-Canadian was cut off from her loved ones, as she was locked up in the Las Vegas home with 15 other womens strawweight fighters and given no free access to the outside world. As a result, life during that time consisted of little more than training, eating and sleeping — not to mention the occasional bit of drama. As with previous seasons of the popular reality series, Markos and her fellow cast members were denied any communication with their families and forced to surrender their phones. In the past, this kind of isolation has some driven some fighters to their breaking points. Its also yielded a few out-of-competition brawls, as well as damaged property. Markos knew exactly what she was getting herself into before entering the infamous house, but admitted it was still tough being cut off from her loved ones. "I was mentally prepared for it, so I knew if it got really bad to just stay grounded," said Markos during an interview in downtown Toronto. "As the weeks went on, I started to miss my family a lot. It wasnt so much that I was missing them, but I was just worried something might have happened. I wanted to make sure everything was OK with them. That really affected me, not being able to call my family, talk to them and see how they were doing. "I got my phone back and was like, How do I use this thing?" she laughed. "It had been so long. Id never been that far away from my phone. I wanted to call out, but forgot how. First thing I did was call my husband and then I called my family." Markos will be featured on The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned, which premieres tonight. Over the course of the shows 20th season, the group of 16 athletes will be winnowed down to two finalists who will then battle for the inaugural UFC womens 115-pound title at the live finale at Las Vegass Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Fri., Dec. 12. The coaches, lightweight champ Anthony Pettis and challenger Gilbert Melendez are set to lock horns in the co-main event of UFC 181 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Dec. 6. Though being cooped up proved to be a tough, yet rewarding, experience for Markos, her absence was equally challenging for her loved ones. Markos husband, Jeff Thomas, said it was difficult not being able to see his wife on her birthday. "After the first week, I was just like, I miss her and cant talk to her — especially with her birthday coming up. I cant even wish her happy birthday. This is crazy," said Thomas. "Wed never been away from each other for that long in the longest time. It felt really different. "I sort of knew it was her goal to get in. Shes always said, I want to see how far I can get before we have kids. I knew how bad she wants to have kids, so I knew shed do anything to get to where she wanted to bee.dddddddddddd When that opportunity came, it was just the next step for her." Of course, being separated from her family was only part of the challenge. Over the month and a half long filming schedule, TUF cast members can potentially fight as many as three times, provided they keep winning. This means they have to keep their weight constantly on point due to the short turnaround between bouts. Then there are potential personality clashes with other athletes. To make matters worse, theres no real privacy to speak of, as everything is committed to film. Markos said her time on the show made her both a better and tougher fighter, but admitted watching herself on television will be an awkward experience. "You come out of there a lot stronger," said Markos. "For anyone who went in there, youre coming out stronger mentally and physically. It was a great experience. So people made it hard, but it was still one of the greatest experiences. "I dont know how Im going to come across to people. Whats done is done and I cant change it. So Im just going to sit there, watch it and hope for the best. There are a few things I said where I was like, Why did I say that? It sounds so stupid." The experience will no doubt be equally surreal for Thomas, who has to watch his wife compete against the top fighters in the world. Though he has faith in Markos skills, Thomas said he gets anxious before each of her fights. "When it starts, Im nervous as all hell," Thomas said. "I dont like seeing her get punched in the face. I dont like seeing her get hit — nothing like that — but I know her style. Once she gets to a certain point in the fight, I know its over and she won. Then I dont have to worry anymore. If she gets her (opponent) on the ground — and once I see that shes looking comfortable in there — its less stressful. But its never fun to watch her get punched in the face." For Markos, the hard part is done for now. With her stint in the house behind her, shes focused on improving her overall game. Though she learned a lot from her TUF coaches, she admitted shes still only scraped the surface of her potential. "I dont think Im where I want to be right now," Markos said. "I know I have a lot of improving to do and Im constantly wanting to learn every day. So they helped me out a lot with things I wasnt sure about. So I definitely came out of there with a huge amount of knowledge. "Its the most important thing in my life right now, just having that opportunity and being able to show everyone that Im a Canadian and Im also from the Middle East. I like to show all the little girls that look up to me at my gym that you dont have to be like some other people are. Just be yourself and just be respectful. It means a lot to me that I can go out there and show people who I am as a person, not just as a fighter." ' ' '