Roberto Luongo and Dan Hamhuis ready to embrace Olympic experience

Roberto Luongo is going to the Olympics on a sour note.

Blanking the Maple Leafs for the majority of Saturday's game at the Air Canada Centre, it all fell apart midway through the third period when the Canucks failed to hold on to their 1-0 lead and fell 3-1 in their final game before the NHL's Olympic break.

Vancouver has now lost seven straight games and Luongo has not won in his last five starts.

For Canada's No. 1 goaltender, there is no time to dwell on his recent struggles as he now shifts his focus to helping his country repeat its gold-medal performance of four years ago in Vancouver.

"Once we get over there I think the mindset shifts right away," said Luongo after stopping 21 shots against Toronto. "You realize where you are and take advantage of that excitement."

If anyone on Team Canada knows how to switch gears to hone in on what lies ahead, it is Luongo, who represents Canada for the third time at the Olympics.

Luongo lost in his final start before the Olympic break four years ago, allowing five goals in a 6-2 road loss to the Minnesota Wild. He entered those Games as the No. 2 netminder behind Martin Brodeur but took over the starting role after Brodeur struggled in the preliminary-round games.

He says his approach will be no different than it was for Vancouver 2010 when he faced the pressures of playing in his home city for the host nation.

"(I'm going to) just enjoy it," Luongo said. "It's not about Roberto Luongo, it's about representing Team Canada and doing whatever you can do for the team to help win a medal for your country. Once we get there we are all wearing the same logo and we all want to pull in the same direction for the country."

Joining him in Sochi will be his teammate, defenceman Dan Hamhuis.

The 31-year-old returned to action on Saturday after missing three games from an undisclosed injury and looked in fine form in his return - leading all skaters with 24:37 of ice time. He also blocked three shots and had a glorious scoring chance but was denied by Maple Leafs goalie Jonathan Bernier.

"Anytime you get a few days off and come back, you want to get involved in the game early." Hamhuis said. "I took a few bumps, and got a block and just tried to be involved in the game as much as I could."

It will be the first Olympics for Hamhuis, who was somewhat of a surprise addition to Team Canada. He indicated that he was relieved to resume playing after his brief injury-related absence.

"I was a little anxious there a few days ago. It was tough to be out of the lineup for our team as well, we have been having a tough time putting wins together here," said Hamhuis, before addressing the upcoming two weeks. "I'm really excited about the chance to go over (to Sochi) and experience the athletes village ... the whole Olympic experience."