Short on penalty killers, Panthers lean on stars Aleksander Barkov and Vincent Trocheck for minutes

Florida Panthers coach Bob Boughner rattled off the attributes he looked for on the penalty kill — hockey sense, desperation, urgency and sacrifice. Now, he and the Panthers just have to find more of them.

Decimated by injuries to three penalty-killing forwards — Colton Sceviour, Connor Brickley and Jared McCann — the Panthers have had to lean on an array of players to kill penalties recently, including a recent AHL recall and two of their best players.

After entering Thursday night’s game against Anaheim as the worst penalty-kill unit in the NHL, the Panthers have not allowed a power-play goal in their past two games, successfully killing six consecutive penalties. Florida penalty kill still ranks as the third-worst in the NHL at 74.4 percent, but seems to have turned a corner against struggling power plays from Anaheim and Detroit.

“Everybody’s on the same page right now,” Panthers center Aleksander Barkov said. “We know what to do. When they have the puck, we know what to do, on the breakouts and in the zone. We just know what to do.”

Boughner and associate coach Jack Capuano installed a new penalty-kill system that emphasizes pressing the puck with forwards and parking defensemen between the dots in front of the net. Through the season’s first month, the Panthers adjusted to the new system, searching for the right pressure points that don’t leave them vulnerable on the back side.

The Panthers allowed at least one power-play goal in the season’s first six games, including a three-goal outburst by Pittsburgh on Oct. 20. Since that game, Florida has killed 12 of 14 penalties (85.7 percent).

“Our whole game is pushing the pace, being a fast team and a skilled team,” Barkov said. “That’s what we’re doing on the PK, too. We don’t want them to get too set up. We try to push them all the time.”

Barkov has been one of Florida’s best penalty killers this season, in addition to being one of Florida’s best power-play contributors and a top-line center.

The Panthers have allowed 10 power-play goals this season. Barkov has not been on the ice for any of them, and has even scored two shorthanded goals. Vincent Trocheck has only been on the ice for three opposing power-play goals.

Barkov and Trocheck’s success on the penalty kill has created a conundrum for Boughner. They each average at least two minutes on the penalty kill per game. How does he manage their minutes so that they can still be an offensive threat without crippling the penalty-kill unit?

It starts with getting more penalty-killing specialists on the ice to take some of the burden off two of his stars.

“I’d love it but they’re all in the training room right now,” Boughner said.

Barkov and Trocheck are each one of the top-five most-used forwards in the NHL. Barkov’s average ice time of 22:32 only ranks behind Edmonton star Connor McDavid. Trocheck’s 21:41 trails McDavid, Barkov, Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf and Los Angeles’ Anze Kopitar.

Boughner said he envisions Barkov and Trocheck playing 20-22 minutes a night. Both have already notched 26-minute games in the season’s first month. Only two other forwards have crossed that mark this season.

“It’s just a matter of getting guys back healthy so we can take a little bit of minutes away from Barky and Troch on the PK,” Boughner said.

Barkov has never averaged more than 20 minutes per game across an entire season. The extra minutes this year don’t bother the 22-year-old.

“I like to be on the ice as much as they want to play me,” Barkov said. “I don’t mind being on the PK either. Just anytime they want me on the ice, I’m happy to be there.” …

Boughner said he did not expect to get any of the injured players back for Monday night’s game against Tampa Bay. Goaltender Roberto Luongo (right hand) has missed the past four games and is on injured reserve. McCann (lower body) has missed the past three games and is also on IR.

Sceviour (upper body) hasn’t played in the past three games, while Brickley (upper body) missed Saturday’s game against Detroit.

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mdefranks@sun-sentinel.com; On Twitter @MDeFranks.