Brent Burns is 19th in TOI/17th in Points. Erik Karlsson, 12th/40th.

[CaptainShark]

Karl does shoot much. He is on pace for about 280 SOG in 82 games. Unfortunately his shooting percentage is -22%

 

[Oddbob]

Seems weird to post a thread about the 17th and 12th best at something! Although I came in 17th place in the blueberry pie festival in 1912!

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

If anybody seriously thinks Burns is bad defensively, they need to watch the final two minutes of the game tonight. 5-on-6 and defending a lead, Burns and Karlsson played every second, and Burns shut down Vegas’ entire team.



Every time people try to act like this guy isn’t an elite superstar, cream of the crop NHLer, I am perplexed.

 

[ramdm5]

If anybody seriously thinks Burns is bad defensively, they need to watch the final two minutes of the game tonight. 5-on-6 and defending a lead, Burns and Karlsson played every second, and Burns shut down Vegas’ entire team.



Every time people try to act like this guy isn’t an elite superstar, cream of the crop NHLer, I am perplexed.

4th and 5th forwards

 

[greasysnapper]

EK just shutdown Kucherov and McDavid within the last week

No he didn't the Sharks did. Specifically SJ's goalies. Jones has been playing unreal.

EK for all he gives on offense has been equally terrible in his own end. Quite often when there's a misplay that leads to a scoring chance you can find EK somewhere at the root cause. Look at today's game, Merril's goal, EK was the 5TH! Shark back after he shot a weak shot into a crowd of people. Look at this hustle:



or one of the 4-5 misplays he made in the LA game like this one:




Karlsson is really good, but he's not shutting down anyone. The players around him are.

 

[Sensmileletsgo]

EK just shutdown Kucherov and McDavid within the last week

I find EK is one of the best in the league at shutting down elite forwards.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

No he didn't the Sharks did. Specifically SJ's goalies. Jones has been playing unreal.

EK for all he gives on offense has been equally terrible in his own end. Quite often when there's a misplay that leads to a scoring chance you can find EK somewhere at the root cause. Look at today's game, Merril's goal, EK was the 5TH! Shark back after he shot a weak shot into a crowd of people. Look at this hustle:



or one of the 4-5 misplays he made in the LA game like this one:




Karlsson is really good, but he's not shutting down anyone. The players around him are.

Behind every “shutdown defenseman” who has a very strong defensive reputation, there is a strong goaltender.

EVERY one of them.

 

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

No he didn't the Sharks did. Specifically SJ's goalies. Jones has been playing unreal.

EK for all he gives on offense has been equally terrible in his own end. Quite often when there's a misplay that leads to a scoring chance you can find EK somewhere at the root cause. Look at today's game, Merril's goal, EK was the 5TH! Shark back after he shot a weak shot into a crowd of people. Look at this hustle:



or one of the 4-5 misplays he made in the LA game like this one:




Karlsson is really good, but he's not shutting down anyone. The players around him are.

Honestly, Karlsson has mostly always been like that. Perhaps either frustrated or exhausted, sometimes he takes his time getting back to his own end.

But he is very good at shutting stars down. His speed, hockey instincts and quick stick are helpful with that. The year Ottawa went to the ECF, he was playing some amazing defensive hockey.

 

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

Behind every “shutdown defenseman” who has a very strong defensive reputation, there is a strong goaltender.

EVERY one of them.

I don't think people realize that every defenseman gets exposed, and actually fairly often, too. It's part of the game when you have ten skaters on the ice, all extremely skilled and fast, over 60 minutes a night.

 

[GreatGonzo]

Behind every “shutdown defenseman” who has a very strong defensive reputation, there is a strong goaltender.

EVERY one of them.

But EK isn’t a shut down defenseman and doesn’t have a strong defensive rep. Doesn’t mean he isn’t capable of it, but that poster has a point. After two games, people are already ready to proclaim how amazing he is defensively.

 

[GreatGonzo]

I find EK is one of the best in the league at shutting down elite forwards.

Do you watch any other defensemen? I wouldn’t even put EK had a top 5 defensive defenseman.

I don't think people realize that every defenseman gets exposed, and actually fairly often, too. It's part of the game when you have ten skaters on the ice, all extremely skilled and fast, over 60 minutes a night.

Totally true. The difference is that EKs style had him making a lot of mistakes(before the sharks, but still).

We give him a pass on it because he’s still a great defenseman, but what makes him a phenomenal player is his abilities offensively, which can still be transitioned well into the defensive side, but his offensive first mentality does get him in trouble a lot.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

I don't think people realize that every defenseman gets exposed, and actually fairly often, too. It's part of the game when you have ten skaters on the ice, all extremely skilled and fast, over 60 minutes a night.

And last night, he played over half of the game and was out there for one goal against.

If you play half of the game, you’re pretty much allowed to shoot the puck into your own net once and you’re still great defensively as long as you don’t allow anything else.

 

[Agent Zub]

No he didn't the Sharks did. Specifically SJ's goalies. Jones has been playing unreal.

EK for all he gives on offense has been equally terrible in his own end. Quite often when there's a misplay that leads to a scoring chance you can find EK somewhere at the root cause. Look at today's game, Merril's goal, EK was the 5TH! Shark back after he shot a weak shot into a crowd of people. Look at this hustle:



or one of the 4-5 misplays he made in the LA game like this one:




Karlsson is really good, but he's not shutting down anyone. The players around him are.

Agreed Karlsson is terrible defensively and that's why he gets played 30+ minutes and asked to protect leads in playoff games.

Makes absolute complete sense.

I am awed by your hockey knowledge. I sincerely do not understand how you're not coaching in the NHL right now when you have such insight to offer.

 

[Sensmileletsgo]

Do you watch any other defensemen? I wouldn’t even put EK had a top 5 defensive defenseman.

Totally true. The difference is that EKs style had him making a lot of mistakes(before the sharks, but still).

We give him a pass on it because he’s still a great defenseman, but what makes him a phenomenal player is his abilities offensively, which can still be transitioned well into the defensive side, but his offensive first mentality does get him in trouble a lot.

I probably should of worded it differently, but come playoff time, I would pick EK to match up against McDavid, Crosby, Bergeron over any other defenseman.

 

[GreatGonzo]

I probably should of worded it differently, but come playoff time, I would pick EK to match up against McDavid, Crosby, Bergeron over any other defenseman.

If he played like he did in 2017, I can’t argue with that.

 

[Barrie22]

No he didn't the Sharks did. Specifically SJ's goalies. Jones has been playing unreal.

EK for all he gives on offense has been equally terrible in his own end. Quite often when there's a misplay that leads to a scoring chance you can find EK somewhere at the root cause. Look at today's game, Merril's goal, EK was the 5TH! Shark back after he shot a weak shot into a crowd of people. Look at this hustle:



or one of the 4-5 misplays he made in the LA game like this one:




Karlsson is really good, but he's not shutting down anyone. The players around him are.

can i ask how jones specifically shut down kucherov? i didn't know a goalie could make a skater not take 1 shot on net. and even with mcdavid he had 2 whopping shots on net the entire 21 minutes he played.

 

[GreatGonzo]

can i ask how jones specifically shut down kucherov? i didn't know a goalie could make a skater not take 1 shot on net. and even with mcdavid he had 2 whopping shots on net the entire 21 minutes he played.

He had two shots on net. While the Blues, Jets, and Canucks all held him to one shot.....does this mean those D-men are just as good?

Fact is Edmonton had two goals, one In which he assisted on. We out shot them 36-22. I’m not taking anything away from his performance, but to give him all the glory for “shutting down” McDavid is a bit much.

 

[Wings4Life]

The only thing Burns does better is his shot. Karlsson is better at pretty much everything else and overall a better twoway defensemen.

Burns has the better shot and has better physical play. Defensively they are pretty close, I'd give the edge to Karlsson though.

 

[Mr Hat]

He had two shots on net. While the Blues, Jets, and Canucks all held him to one shot.....does this mean those D-men are just as good?

Fact is Edmonton had two goals, one In which he assisted on. We out shot them 36-22. I’m not taking anything away from his performance, but to give him all the glory for “shutting down” McDavid is a bit much.

It's easy to give him the Lions share of the glory when he plays the Lions share of minutes against him, no?

Where is the poster saying that Jones shut down McDavid? Check out the whopping amount of ES shots Jones faced with Karlsson on the ice.

 

[91Fedorov91]

It's easy to give him the Lions share of the glory when he plays the Lions share of minutes against him, no?

Where is the poster saying that Jones shut down McDavid? Check out the whopping amount of ES shots Jones faced with Karlsson on the ice.

View attachment 174565

Connor Mcdavid didn't record a shot on goal that game.

 

[greasysnapper]

Agreed Karlsson is terrible defensively and that's why he gets played 30+ minutes and asked to protect leads in playoff games.

Makes absolute complete sense.

I am awed by your hockey knowledge. I sincerely do not understand how you're not coaching in the NHL right now when you have such insight to offer.

First off, did you know sarcasm is the lowest form of wit?

He plays ~26 a night. And the reason he goes out there and plays so many minutes despite his defensive deficiencies is the exact concept of why corsi became so big. When he has the puck on his stick, or he's in the offensive zone he creates chances (sometimes for the other team but I digress there). His style of play pushes the other team back on their heels. It's defense through offense.

To reiterate my previous statement, I think he has been doing a great job for the Sharks, but to say he's shutting down some of the games elite players is quite frankly daft.

 

[GreatGonzo]

It's easy to give him the Lions share of the glory when he plays the Lions share of minutes against him, no?

Where is the poster saying that Jones shut down McDavid? Check out the whopping amount of ES shots Jones faced with Karlsson on the ice.

View attachment 174565

I’m not agreeing that Jones shut him down, just that it wasn’t just EK. The whole team basically out played the Oilers. EK of course played a part, but he didn’t simply do it all.

I mean Burns had the most time on ice, and both him and Karlsson basically had an equal share of offensive and defensive starts. While the Oilers saw more shots against the Sharks with EK on the ice while generating the most shots against the oilers.

In the end, offensively and defensively we dominated.

Connor Mcdavid didn't record a shot on goal that game.

Again, he registered two shots on goal. Actually looking up the game stats does wonders.....

Why we continue to play this game is beyond me.

 

[Mr Hat]

I’m not agreeing that Jones shut him down, just that it wasn’t just EK. The whole team basically out played the Oilers. EK of course played a part, but he didn’t simply do it all.

I mean Burns had the most time on ice, and both him and Karlsson basically had an equal share of offensive and defensive starts. While the Oilers saw more shots against the Sharks with EK on the ice while generating the most shots against the oilers.

In the end, offensively and defensively we dominated.

Again, he registered two shots on goal. Actually looking up the game stats does wonders.....

Why we continue to play this game is beyond me.

So Karlsson played 15 min against McDavid, and there were only 3 ES against while he was on the ice the whole game. So I'm not sure how the Oilers had more SOG with Karlsson on the ice... That should be clear from the image posted. McDavid didn't have a shot on goal vs Karlsson, and was a -3. If that is not shutting McJesus down, I'm not sure what is? SJ as a team outplayed the Oilers as a team, but the Oilers minus McDavid is a garbage hockey club. Just as bad as Ottawa.

 

[GreatGonzo]

So Karlsson played 15 min against McDavid, and there were only 3 ES against while he was on the ice the whole game. So I'm not sure how the Oilers had more SOG with Karlsson on the ice... That should be clear from the image posted. McDavid didn't have a shot on goal vs Karlsson, and was a -3. If that is not shutting McJesus down, I'm not sure what is? SJ as a team outplayed the Oilers as a team, but the Oilers minus McDavid is a garbage hockey club. Just as bad as Ottawa.

You make it sound like McDavid is the only member of the Oilers....

He had an 18 SAT against, unless I’m using that wrong. But he also generated more shots against the Oilers, which again shouldn’t be a surprise, it’s EK. Not sure what his plus/minus has anything to do with EK. They scored 7 goals against the Oilers and McDavid happened to be on the ice more times than not during some of those goals.

He registered two shots that game. Unless I’m mistaken, what would you define a shot on goal compared to the two shots that are registered for that game?

 

[Mattb124]

You make it sound like McDavid is the only member of the Oilers....

Uh, have you watched the Oilers? He kind of is.