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Shift of His Career

June 3, 2012, 1:11 AM ET [41 Comments]
Eklund
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Los Angeles Kings forward Jeff Carter has not had many offensive highlights during the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs but the ones he has produced -- a hat trick and tonight's overtime game winner in Game 2 of the Finals -- have been huge for his team.

The shift that led up to Carter's goal was the type of tremendous individual effort that he is most certainly capable of producing from time to time. He made room for himself, took the defender with him, used Dustin Penner's screen to perfection and snapped a vicious wrist shot past Martin Brodeur. That was the player who scored 46 goals for Philadelphia in 2008-09.

Carter has always had the ability to play at a very high level. When he's at his best, he can play at a level that's only a half-notch below the absolute best players in the league. Consistency has been his biggest drawback at times, but he is capable of getting on a roll and dominating at times.

Now, with all that said, I find some of the postgame fawning over Carter to be somewhat comical. One reporter even asked him if that goal made "it worth all of the aggravation" he had to put up with this year.

Carter has dealt with quite a few injuries this year, and that no doubt played into his reduced production as well. But, beyond that, let's get one thing straight: Jeff Carter WAS the aggravation this past year, not the victim of it.

Rather than handling his trade from Philadelphia to Columbus like a professional -- and it must be said that Mike Richards has been extremely professional from day one in his handling of the trade to Los Angeles -- Carter quit on his new club before he even arrived there. Then he spent much of the regular season giving something less than maximum effort and clashing with linemate Rick Nash, until Carter got traded to Los Angeles to rejoin Richards and other familiar faces, including assistant coach John Stevens (with whom Carter has always had an excellent relationship).

Ever since then, he's been all smiles. Of course he has. He was given a reprieve from an awful situation in Columbus that he had a hand in creating, and found himself on a team capable of winning the Cup, with his best friend and a support system around him. Who wouldn't be happy, except maybe the franchise that dealt away a decent young forward (Jakub Voracek) and the high first-round draft pick used to take Sean Couturier in order to acquire Carter to be a crucial part of their future? The Flyers are most certainly happy with Voracek and Couturier as well -- they are a better team for that trade.

Carter's OT goal tonight is an important step toward erasing what has been a career-long tendency to under-produce in the playoffs. And I guarantee that no one in LA could care less what Carter's previous playoff history was, especially if the club goes on to win two more games and capture its first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

You are only as good as your last shift, and Jeff Carter's last shift was one for the ages.
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