He is a goaltender who thrives on work, feeling most comfortable when he takes as many shots as possible in games and practice.

But Tuesday's 8-2 qualification win against Germany barely caused Roberto Luongo to break a sweat. He didn't see a single shot until halfway through the first period.

"We had basically no scoring chances, hardly a shot on net," said German coach Uwe Krupp.

When Luongo was needed, it was usually to stop a puck delivered from just inside the blueline, as Germans rarely penetrated deep into the Canadian zone with the puck on their sticks.

"Even though I hadn't played since last Tuesday I've felt sharp in practice and was seeing the puck really well," said Luongo who will start again for Canada in today's semifinal game against Russia. "It didn't feel like I hadn't played for a week."

It's hard to get much of a read on whether head coach Mike Babcock's decision to start Luongo over Martin Brodeur was the right hunch since any goaltender at this tournament could have led Canada to victory against Germany.

"A lot of it depends how you feel in goal, if you're feeling sharp and seeing the puck well," said Luongo.

Even the two German goals didn't provide much of a measuring stick. On the first, Luongo was knocked down by Germany's Marco Sturm moments before Marcel Goc emerged from behind the net while Luongo was scrambling back into position.

On the second, Germany had a two-on-none. Luongo stopped the initial shot by Marcel Muller but the rebound came directly to Manuel Klinge who banged it past him.

As for the challenge of playing in back-to-back games, Luongo just shrugged.

"I play a ton of back-to-back games with the Canucks," said Luongo. "I've played a lot of big games on the international level," said Luongo. "Hopefully it won't be the biggest this week."

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