It feels like Erik Karlsson has taken the torch from Mike Green as the high-scoring defenseman that some fans and pundits love to hate.
If you follow “Hockey Twitter,” you probably see it all the time: Karlsson haters surface to point out a mistake, then mysteriously go underground during the frequent moments when he does great things for the Ottawa Senators.
That crowd must have feasted on Karlsson’s mistakes on Saturday night, even if the Senators ended up beating the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 via a shootout.
This tweet was nowhere near the harshest comment toward Karlsson:
Erik Karlsson now has a goal and an assist tonight - both against his own team #sens
— Don Brennan (@SunDoniB) February 21, 2016
The “one-timer” Karlsson sent to Andreas Athanasiou really was pretty bad:
While this own-goal seemed to sting:
Karlsson currently leads the NHL by averaging 29:08 minutes per contest. Most of those minutes are productive, with Karlsson driving offense and Ottawa’s transition game.
Still, there will be those moments where things go awry, and Karlsson’s critics received two files to cite come Norris debate time.
(Because, chances are, Karlsson will be in the discussion.)