Second line key to more victories

Trocheck, Jokinen, Smith hope to help make the playoffffffffffffs.

W h e n S a s h a B a r k o v and Jonathan Huberdeau returned from injury earlier this month, everyone knew what that meant for Florida’s top line.

The Panthers hoped solidifying the top line of Barkov, Huberdeau and Jaromir Jagr would trickle down through the lineup. Boy, has it. Florida got plenty of scoring during its fifive- game road winning streak before coming home and losing its next two.

The second line of center Vincent Trocheck and wingers Jussi Jokinen and Reilly Smith had been a huge reason for Florida’s road run and offffffffffffers hope down the road.

If the Panthers are going to make a run for the playoffffs — and a big game against Atlantic Division rival Ottawa awaits tonight — Florida will likely need its second line guys to continue scoring.

“Earlier in the year, Jokinen was hurt and we had a lot of other injuries,” said Trocheck, who played with Jokinen and Smith for much of last season but players being out forced the Panthers to scramble things up for much of this season.

“The three of us really haven’t been together very much until recently and I think now that we’re back and we’re a healthy team he l ps e ve r yo ne . We c a n fifinally play our role and feel comfortable.

“I played with probably five, six different guys. It was just a matter of us getting back together and getting that chemistry back.”

In Florida’s fifive-game road run — which marks the fifirst time the Panthers went 5-0 on a road trip in their history — the second line has simply been outstanding.

Not only did Trocheck’s goal with 4.6 second left beat the Blues in St. Louis on Monday night, but Jokinen had three goals in the past fifive games. Smith had fifive assists.

T o g e t h e r , t h e T r o - check-Jokinen-Smith troika has combined for six goals and 21 points in the past seven games.

“I think our whole team is playing very well right now,” said Jokinen, who has three assists in Florida’s two most recent home losses.

“H a v i n g B a r k o v a n d Huberdeau back gives our whole team a lot of confidence. We’re scoring more goals than we were at the start of the season and every line has been doing their part.”

After all the success the second line had last year, Smith and Jokinen defifinitely struggled as did their team.

Jokinen says some days were tough, and although he fifigured things would reverse course, it wasn’t always easy to keep the faith.

In December, for instance, Jokinen had just two goals and two assists and was a minus-7 a s t he Pant her s went through some unstable times.

“S o me o f i t was ‘ puck l u c k , ’ b u t e v e r y p l a y e r goes through some tough stretches — even guys like Sidney Crosby,” said Jokinen, who notched 18 goals with 60 points last year and has nine and 22 in this one.

“What you have to do is remember to work hard in the games, in practices, in the gym and do the little things like rest offff the ice. It’s a long year. You have to remember it’s going to turn around.”