Konsider me konverted

[Minister of Offence]

Originally Posted by coladin

Didn't want to start a new thread with a silly headline, but my train of thought about Karlsson and his shooting is clearly becoming an issue. He doubted himself just before the overtime goal and he missed the net on the 4 on 2 in the dying minutes of the 3rd. Potvin has picked up on it too now and you can see the frustration in Karlsson's face after his shot, but then again he always makes a face even when he is feeling it, a competitive player that he is.

I wish the guy can relax and see how far he has come in all other facets of his game, but he is clearly pressing and squeezing his stick. I wouldn't pin yesterday on him but our PP needs his shot and if he is going to continue to put himself in a great scoring position, due to his speed and vision of the ice, he has to score.

This is one of those "he just needs one" types of things. You don't just lose your ability to score permanently. He's arguably becoming our best player despite this. It's much different if the guy is labelled a goal scoring winger but can't do it. Goal scoring isn't at the top of the priority list for EK, but like I said, it'll probably take one and more will go in.

[coladin]

Man, I hope so. That 4 on 2, tough to watch.

[Minister of Offence]

Originally Posted by coladin

Man, I hope so. That 4 on 2, tough to watch.

Probably the least confident he's ever looked in shooting situations. It took a little while but the frustration is starting to linger.

[Holdurbreathe]

Karlsson just had an average game last night, while MacLean still played him over 30 minutes, he seemed to fight the puck all night.

The one thing that I find very promising, his defensive work is improving game over game.

[Minister of Offence]

Originally Posted by Holdurbreathe

Karlsson just had an average game last night, while MacLean still played him over 30 minutes, he seemed to fight the puck all night.

The one thing that I find very promising, his defensive work is improving game over game.

He looked fatigued, usually in OT he has an extra gear.

I agree though, his actual defensive play was fine last night. He rubbed Kesler on the boards to open the game and Kesler ended up on his wallet. Like HTV said, the standards we hold him to are growing very fast. That wasn't much more than an "off night", I think. His ice time last night was a clear reflection of what his place is on this team...even on a night where he wasn't that good, the coach sees him as a player that gets the benefit of the doubt with his ice time. It's not like he didn't get his chances and that's more you can say about a lot of guys on the roster...even last night, he almost won the game.