It's not exactly the kind of game that inspires hope for the future, but there was a moment in the Ottawa Senators' 7-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday that should. In the final 30 seconds, defenseman Erik Karlsson jumped on a rebound, faked a one-timer, then buried a wrister past Flyers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. It was his first goal of the season, and it extended his point streak to four games. The only game this season in which Karlsson hasn't scored a point was Saturday's loss to the Washington Capitals.
Karlsson's eight points this season are only one behind league leaders Phil Kessel and Anze Kopitar, and Karlsson is a 21-year-old defenseman playing on the worst team in the East. In a 1-5 start for the rebuilding Senators, the positive is that they have a budding superstar making plays from the blue line.
"He's an extreme talent," Senators coach Paul MacLean said. "He has an opportunity to be as good as he wants to be."
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- Senior NHL writer for ESPN The Magazine
- Wrote for Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Wrote for The Sporting News
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Craig Custance
Craig Custance joined ESPN in September 2011 as an NHL reporter for ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Insider and ESPN.com. A graduate of Michigan State University, he lived for nearly a decade in Georgia working for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution where he spent time covering the late Atlanta Thrashers. He was the only Thrashers beat writer to get the team to the playoffs.
From 2008-11 he was the national hockey writer for the Sporting News, writing regularly in print and online. A member of the PHWA, he's a proud voter for the major NHL awards and can occasionally defend his selections.
Like hockey, he left Atlanta to return north where he currently lives in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, with his wife Cassie and their three kids.
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