Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Underrated injury
Alex Petrovic missed 33 games early in the season. The Panthers missed his defense.
SUNRISE — A lot has been said about the Panthers’ disappointing season being tied to the long-term injuries to forwards Jonathan Huberdeau, Nick Bjugstad and Aleksander Barkov.
That certainly was a factor, as the trio has missed a combined 97 games and counting. But often overlooked is the early-season loss of top-six defenseman Alex Petrovic, who was out for 33 games from Nov. 17 to Jan. 23 with a broken ankle.
Petrovic, 25, who seemingly blossomed during last season’s first-round playoff loss to the Islanders with a goal and three assists and was a plus-5, picked up where he left off in October. He was leading the Panthers with a plus-8 in the first 16 games before a blocked shot shattered his ankle Nov. 15 against the Canadiens.
The Panthers were 8-7-1 with him, then lost 21 of 33 (12-12-9) without the 6-foot-4 defenseman, the most physical presence on the blue line who always sticks up for his teammates.
Excluding rookie Mike Matheson (who played three regular-season games last year), only Petrovic and Aaron Ekblad were returning from the top-six defensive corps, so the chemistry was severely lacking without him.
“It affected us,” Panthers interim coach Tom Rowe said recently. “Every injury affected us when we had guys out for as long as we did.
“Petro made great strides last year and probably played his best hockey in the playoffs, which is a great sign when a guy could play under that kind of pressure in such an intense series.
“He’s trending in the right direction, but has to continue because we’re counting on him in a big way. His consistency has improved a great deal from last year to this year and that’s the biggest thing for him.”
Only Mark Pysyk has a better plus-minus (0) among defensemen than Petrovic’s minus-3. He has a goal and 13 assists while averaging a career-high 17:57 ice time. His 105 hits are one shy of Jason Demers, the leader among defensemen in 33 fewer games.
“It sucks getting hurt early in the year,” Petrovic said. “You train all summer to make the playoffs like last year. We were pumped coming into next year. It’s tough. Now we’re at this point.
“It’s a learning curve. Whatever experience you get you got to learn from. I’ll work harder this summer to keep getting better.
“I believe I could be a top-four, top-two D-man one day, but I just want to be in the playoffs. That’s where I get my drive. Two years ago we were in the same position, not playing for anything, just waiting for the year to end.”
Petrovic is a restricted free agent this summer, so the Panthers are expected to work on an extension. There is a concern that he could be left unprotected in the June expansion draft, in which the Panthers can either protect three defensemen in one scenario or eight combined forwards and defensemen in another.
No comfort for Trocheck
Panthers All-Star center Vincent Trocheck took no solace in finally snapping a 17-game goal drought when he scored his 23rd in Thursday’s 6-3 loss to the Blues.
He was more interested in his rookie teammates, such as Matheson, Ian McCoshen and MacKenzie Weegar, as well as center Denis Malgin, learning a lesson.
“It’s no fun for us,” Trocheck said. “We thought we would be in a playoff spot, maybe go further than we did last year. These [young] guys are part of our future.
“To see everyone’s reaction after a loss and see how bad guys really wanted to be in the playoffs, that’s kind of a wake-up call that no matter how good a team you have on paper at the beginning of the season, anything can happen.”