FanPost

The Measuring Stick

I was reading Empty Netters this morning, and Seth had linked to a recap from last night's game in which Erik Karlsson said the following:

I think we showed (Sunday night) that we have a really good team

I assume that Karlsson speaks for the rest of the locker room when he says the Senators think they have a good team. It's difficult, however, to find that good team somewhere outside of quotes, as the Senators' 16-17-4 record and -22 goal differential argue pretty forcefully that the Senators are indeed not a very good team. This isn't surprising since they don't do a great job of controlling the play (they're 16th in team Fenwick) and sign guys like Sergei Gonchar to bloated deals.

But I thought that this quote by Karlsson illustrates what the Penguins will continue to deal with this season: a bullseye on their backs. Sitting atop the East and riding the league's hottest player means every team, every night, will be gunning for a win. I doubt the Penguins will encounter too many opponents who can't get their feet moving, and the Pens need to adjust to this. They can't drop games to bad/mediocre teams in the East (like the Senators or the Rangers) if they want to win the Atlantic at the end of the year. I'd like to say that the Penguins have had experience dealing with this since they played all of last season coming off their Cup win. But they fell into inconsistency pretty quickly into last season, and never got the chance to really serve as that measuring stick for other teams. This season is different so far, and I thought Karlsson's quote really highlights the pressure that will be on the Pens every night for the rest of this season.

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