Penguins Star Defenseman Heating Up
Erik Karlsson is starting to catch his footing with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Expectations were sky-high for Erik Karlsson entering his first season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Coming off a 101-point Norris Trophy campaign, the Swedish blue liner hoped to mesh with his new team early on.
The start of the Penguins season fell short of the expected storybook beginning. Pittsburgh got off to a 3-6-0 start and was in last place in the Eastern Conference entering November.
As of late, the Penguins have seemingly shifted the momentum, and so has their new defenseman. Karlsson is on a three-game point streak, including multi-point performances against the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks last week.
His underlying numbers have taken a jump in the past three games. At 5v5, Karlsson has collected 77% of the expected goals and 76% of the high-danger scoring chances. The Penguins have outscored their opponents 10-1 with Karlsson on the ice during that span.
Karlsson is getting more comfortable with Marcus Pettersson, and his offensive numbers have increased. That pairing ranks 13th in the NHL with 63.5% of the shot attempts when they share the ice at even strength.
Karlsson was the cornerstone piece to Kyle Dubas' offseason adjustments, and he's heating up as the Penguins look to continue climbing out of their early season hole.
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