GDT: Sharks @ Islanders 10am Morning hockey!!!

tiburon12

Registered User
Jul 18, 2009
4,598
4,374
Totally worth staying up until 230 to watch that game..... what a stinker. Couldn't connect on any passes and got burned on every bad turnover. I guess that's what 10am hockey looks like?

We still don't know how to play with Karlsson, which is fine considering the length of the season. Mentally, though, i'm worried that the team failing like this is a red flag for Karlsson that will ultimately push him not to sign. We need a stretch where we just dominate teams, badly

So many times again last night where Karlsson was flying up in the play and our players just aren't looking for him. One with Vlasic coming up the left side comes to mind. Karlsson was streaking back door wide open and Vlasic dumped it in the corner. Frustrating all around
 

Karl Prime

Registered User
Feb 13, 2017
4,582
4,310
I think you are mostly right.

Sens fan here, just wanting to see the talk, because this is exactly how Karlsson numbers have been the last several years. He was -26 last year, and it was very well deserved.

Now he has been highly passive defensively for some time. Even before the foot injury he was easy to blow by in his own end, last year was even worse. Last year you can almost count 1 goal a game in your net per game which he was somewhat if not fully responsible for, and it was pretty frustrating.

Offensively though, passive is not a usual description for him. Part of it may be learning the players and not trying to be selfish as pointed out, but he was anything but passive with the puck last year, and in my memory never has been. the truth is you need to get him the puck and give him some space. He is so quick and dangerous. Ottawa players seemed to mostly line up for one timers in the offensive zone and let him do his thing. Always seemed to know exactly when to move with the puck, shoot or pass. His instincts are exceptional. I always say a fast player is not just about his skating, but about how fast he thinks the game, and on offense he is one of the best in the league. He makes the best decision lightning quick. He certainly makes up for his defensive deficiencies and then some on offense.

What has his deployment been like? From the first two it looks somewhat correct.He did about 65% offensive zone starts last year (all situations), minimal PK and most of the PP. He did not play against other teams top two lines very much, which made the defensive lapses a bit more painful.

He played 26+ minutes last season - he definitely played against the other team's top 6 more than the bottom 6.

For the type of offensive juggernaut he is, there was nothing really wrong with his defense in 14-15, 15-16, and 16-17. Not a surprise that his two worst defensive seasons came when his skating was hindered (13-14, last season). He's already made a lot of excellent plays without the puck this season.

As for his +/- last season, he certainly struggled a lot until March or so, but how many of his minuses were empty netters? We've already seen this season that two of his -4 are ENGA. Aside from the other contextual reasons why it's not a good stat, that's at the forefront. Former Shark Tom Preissing was +40 in 06-07 and he was the #6 D.
 

Jargon

Registered User
Apr 12, 2011
5,375
8,850
Venice, California
I'm genuinely confused why we're running our PP through Burns over Karlsson. Burns should be lining up to take shots, Karlsson should be dishing/shooting when he can (isn't that what we did with Boyle/Burns? I don't remember anymore, but I swear that's what we did).

It just seems like the personnel are being used all wrong. It looked better this game than the other games, but there still seemed to be virtually no GREAT chances. I'm curious how long Doug lets this go on.
 

Fistfullofbeer

Moderator
May 9, 2011
30,202
8,917
Whidbey Island, WA
I'm genuinely confused why we're running our PP through Burns over Karlsson. Burns should be lining up to take shots, Karlsson should be dishing/shooting when he can (isn't that what we did with Boyle/Burns? I don't remember anymore, but I swear that's what we did).

It just seems like the personnel are being used all wrong. It looked better this game than the other games, but there still seemed to be virtually no GREAT chances. I'm curious how long Doug lets this go on.

If you figure this out please let me know as well. LOL.

Personally I just want Karlsson to QB the 2nd unit if they want Burns to run the 1st unit. Ideally use Burns as a forward at the same position as Ovechkin and get off one timers with EK65 QBing the 1st unit.
 

Pinkfloyd

Registered User
Oct 29, 2006
70,232
13,598
Folsom
Honestly, the way all these guys play, it might be best to have Burns play forward and Cooch play the point on the power play. It delegates rush and zone entry responsibilities to Karlsson where it belongs and allows for more speed up front to win puck races and board battles when they have to rim it around the boards as part of their entry plays. Pavs can still play tip drills with Karlsson and you can eventually cycle Burns back up to a one-time position after the setup is complete. But the less Burns handles the puck on the breakout and zone entries, the more precise the PP will be and more successful it will become.
 

SjMilhouse

Registered User
Jul 18, 2012
2,118
2,437
Honestly, the way all these guys play, it might be best to have Burns play forward and Cooch play the point on the power play. It delegates rush and zone entry responsibilities to Karlsson where it belongs and allows for more speed up front to win puck races and board battles when they have to rim it around the boards as part of their entry plays. Pavs can still play tip drills with Karlsson and you can eventually cycle Burns back up to a one-time position after the setup is complete. But the less Burns handles the puck on the breakout and zone entries, the more precise the PP will be and more successful it will become.
I like this simply because I think Burns bombs from the point were effective 2 years ago and I'd rather him be down low than continue to try to shoot through defenders, refuse to one-time the puck, only to get the shot blocked leading to an odd man rush because he can't recover from his shot in time.

Spott seems to want to die by Burns shots from the blue line and it just isnt effective like it once was...even with Karlsson defenders are still cheating
 

Used As A Shield

Registered User
Aug 10, 2011
3,948
1,198
I like this simply because I think Burns bombs from the point were effective 2 years ago and I'd rather him be down low than continue to try to shoot through defenders, refuse to one-time the puck, only to get the shot blocked leading to an odd man rush because he can't recover from his shot in time.

Spott seems to want to die by Burns shots from the blue line and it just isnt effective like it once was...even with Karlsson defenders are still cheating
Most of Burn's shots that made it through all the defenders were the ones when he released the puck immediately after picking it up, or when he would backskate towards center from the point and released a wrister. The past season and from what I have seen this season he simply isn't doing that anymore. Last season I thought it was because his back was still hurting from the playoff run the season prior, but now it seems to just not be a common part of his game for some odd reason??
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->