Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Florida will have some lineup shifts for tonight’s game against the Maple Leafs.
SUNRISE — Natural centers Nick Bjugstad and Vincent Trocheck will make a rare appearance on the same line today as the Florida Panthers host the Toronto Maple Leafs.
When Trocheck made the shift from right wing to center last season it didn’t seem likely that the two would be paired together. However, Bjugstad’s slow start due to a broken wrist and a concussion sustained by second-line wing Reilly Smith in Friday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings prompted the move by interim coach Tom Rowe.
Left wing Jussi Jokinen, who’s also battling a slump, is back with Trocheck on the second line and Bjugstad will shift from center to right wing for the second time this season. Bjugstad, who led the team with 24 goals two years ago and had 15 last season, has one goal and two points with a minus-9 ice rating in 16 games.
Jokinen, second on the team with 60 points last season and first with 42 assists, has two goals and six points in 25 games, including his first assist on Friday in 17 games.
“I want to give [Bjugstad] some top-six minutes to get him going,” Rowe said after a long practice at the BB&T Center. “We talked about him getting off the schneid a little bit. He’s got one but we need more out of him.
“I put Jokinen in there because he’s a guy Vinnie’s familiar with and a good two-way guy. He’s showed flashes lately. Probably, part of it’s my fault for not putting him in situations he was used to last year and part of this year.
“I know [Jokinen] real well from Carolina and he’s just got to find his game again. I think he’s coming and him and Vinnie playing together will help that.”
Rowe has doled out more minutes to his top-six forwards than his predecessor Gerard Gallant did. Trocheck’s average time on ice has jumped from 17:46 last season to 21:20.
“I’m back enough and have been working out enough so once I get the feel if you’re playing minutes like Trocheck it takes a few games to get used to it because there’s no replicating it in any practice,” said Bjugstad, who has averaged a career-low 13:22 since coming off injured reserve. “They don’t really get tired by the end of games so it’s kind of impressive. Whatever the workload you’re getting you got to step it up. If that’s the case I’m not complaining.”
Rowe said Smith is dayto-day. But because the Panthers have a back-toback set today and Thursday and no practices before the New Year’s Eve road game in Dallas on Saturday, it’s likely that he won’t return until Jan. 4 against the Winnipeg Jets.
Panthers using Dolphins’ tactic
Despite finishing up the five-game homestand with two more matchups against Atlantic Division rivals Toronto and Montreal, Rowe is adopting the Miami Dolphins’ strategy of focusing on going 1-0 in each game.
“Everybody talks about division [games] but this league is so tough that every single game is a battle,” Rowe said. “We’re literally taking one game at a time.”
Griffith pumped
Panthers left wing Seth Griffith, who was waived twice in one month from two different teams this season, is now playing on the top line with Jaromir Jagr, the second leading scorer in NHL history, and Aleksander Barkov, arguably the best young twoway center in the NHL.
Griffith, 23, was waived by the Boston Bruins on Oct. 11 and after three games by the Leafs on Nov. 12. He had no points with the Leafs and has four assists with no goals in 16 games with Florida.