Perfect timing: Alexander Petrovic becoming important piece of Stars’ blue line

Alexander Petrovic had waited nine years for his “next” playoff goal, so a few extra minutes wasn’t too bad.

Actually, it was excruciating…but as it turned out, worth it.

Petrovic on Sunday scored the game-winning goal in a 5-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. It was one of the more controversial goals of the Stars’ postseason, and also one of the more memorable, so was overall a pretty good moment for the 33-year-old defenseman from Edmonton.

"It's awesome for him, he deserves it,” said Stars defenseman Thomas Harley, who played parts of two seasons in the AHL with Petrovic. “He's been grinding away in the American League for the past five, six, seven years. He did it last year for us, he's doing it this year for us. He comes in and he's so solid on the third pair. He plays the right way and he got rewarded tonight. Couldn't happen to a better guy."

The Petrovic story is an inspiring one. A second-round pick of the Florida Panthers in 2010, the rangy defenseman was on a great career path. He worked his way up in the Panthers organization and played more than 200 games in red and white, scoring his first playoff goal in April 2016 and looking like a valuable piece to a building team.

But, as so often happens in the NHL, organizations change coaches and management, and the fight to stay in the lineup becomes tougher and tougher. Petrovic was traded to his hometown Oilers in 2019, but that was short-lived. He signed with the Bruins that offseason…and then the Flames a year later…and then the Stars. During that span, he was a smart veteran presence in the minor leagues and helped mentor younger players. In four seasons with the Texas Stars, he has played 270 games and helped players like Harley and Lian Bichsel understand the intricacies of playing defense.

So when the Stars had to navigate some ups and downs with Nils Lundkvist in the 2024 playoffs, coach Pete DeBoer decided to use Petrovic. The veteran stepped in and played seven playoff games down the stretch and looked good. That said, Dallas added more blueliners in the offseason and Petrovic was again assigned to the AHL, where he played 58 games this season. A good deal of that time was spent helping Bichsel, the massive (6-7, 231) rookie who brings a physical element the Stars need on the back end.

When Miro Heiskanen was injured, Bichsel got called up and played well, a bittersweet moment for Petrovic, who continued the tough assignment of helping younger players take the minutes that he might want. But the irony of the situation was that in playing beside Bichsel for most of the AHL season, Petrovic made himself the rookie’s perfect partner. When the playoffs started and DeBoer was looking to solve a complicated puzzle on the back end that has been a concern for a couple of seasons, Petrovic seemed the perfect answer.

“I always liked him,” said DeBoer, who first got to know Petrovic when he was a young player in the Panthers system, “He’s not a career minor leaguer. This guy’s got a lot of NHL games under his belt. I’ve always liked his makeup and his game. He made a believer out of me last year in the playoffs, so when we got to that point of the year this year, where we were talking about depth up here, we brought him in, and he’s an easy guy for a coach to play.”

That allowed Petrovic to be in the right place at the right time on Sunday. A defensive defenseman, he usually doesn’t join the rush much. But the opportunity provided itself in the third period of a 2-2 game against the Jets, and Petrovic was up near the net while teammate Mikko Rantanen was continuing his historic dance through the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Rantanen and Petrovic exchanged passes, a loose puck bounced out to Petrovic, who then tried to kick it from his left skate to his right-handed stick. The puck then pinballed to the net, where Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck tried to swipe it away, but actually ended up knocking it into the goal.

“We were battling in our zone a little bit, had a good breakout, I just kind of followed up the rush,” Petrovic said. “Usually, I’m not in that position but just thought we had good control. Mikko made a nice pass, and I made a pass back to him. Shot on net, rebound, kind of went off my skate. It was a pretty lucky goal.”

American Airlines Center exploded for a 3-2 lead in a key Game 3, but then the NHL announced that the goal would be under review.

That’s not unusual in the playoffs, as Stars fans have witnessed plenty of fluky plays, and the league typically sorts them out quickly. This one, however, went on…and on…and on. League officials wanted to be sure, and they reviewed the goal for more than five minutes while Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Free Bird, among other songs, played in the arena.

“The refs were making me a little nervous, but we had seen the replay,” Petrovic said. “We kind of knew what happened. We were pretty confident.”

DeBoer echoed those sentiments.

“I think you have to have some patience in that,” DeBoer said. “I felt fairly confident it was a goal; so did our group, so did our video guys that were watching it. It didn't feel as long as Free Bird.”

But the drama of the moment adds to Petrovic’s memory book. It was perfect that he had to wait that long. It was perfect that he was rewarded. It was sort of a microcosm of his career.

“It’s a grind,” Petrovic said. “Starting in the American League, come up to the NHL, everything’s great up here, and then get sent down again. You’re grinding down there. Bus trips, commercial flights, everything. It’s tough. But it humbles you a bit and kind of teaches you what’s more important. We have a family now and that takes my mind off hockey, and that definitely helps a lot. Being Mother’s Day today, it’s nice for my mom and Brooke, my wife, so we’re always just believing in ourselves and just trying to do what’s best for our family and working hard and trying to take advantage of the opportunity.”

It’s a lesson for a lot of pro athletes, and even for Petrovic himself. With the Stars in the middle of the fight, there are still more special moments waiting to be made on the journey ahead.

“It always slips in my mind, but for me, it was just staying ready,” Petrovic said of the long stretch without a playoff goal. “You never know when that opportunity will come. Whenever it does, you just want to take advantage of it. Just make the most of it. I just thought I kept doing that for the last five years and staying ready.”

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X @MikeHeika.