The time was nigh...
December 1st, 2018 had been a highly anticipated date ever since Erik Karlsson was traded to San Jose on September 13th, and everybody knew that it was going to be an emotional day for everyone involved. Joe Thornton made sure that Karlsson skated a few laps by himself in the warmup so that fans could properly appreciate him on his own. At the first commercial break, the Senators played this tribute video and gave him a standing ovation afterwards:
Welcome back, Erik! pic.twitter.com/aPtqkHJ4LX
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) December 1, 2018
Karlsson tribute https://t.co/62zyMYuKdJ
— TSN 1200 (@TSN1200) December 1, 2018
It's unfortunate that the video couldn't have been longer and more impactful, but they only had one commercial break to honour his time in Ottawa. You cannot encapsulate everything he meant to the team and the city in a short video, because he is the best player in franchise history and almost single-handedly dragged a mediocre team to the Stanley Cup Finals. His personality has always been top-notch, and it's no surprise that the vast majority of Senators jerseys you see (even today) have Karlsson on the back. His impact on the team was immeasurable.
I felt like the crowd reaction wasn't quite as passionate as I was expecting, even though the love for Karlsson is obviously still there. At the same time, there were some clowns in the crowd who booed him whenever he touched the puck, which is absolutely ridiculous. As for the tribute though, even though it was short, it was still emotional, especially when they panned to Melinda Karlsson. Her tweet afterwards makes it hurt even more.
Anyone have 300 boxes of Kleenex i can borrow? 💔
— Melinda Karlsson (@MelindaCurrey) December 1, 2018
It was still incredibly strange to see him on the opposing team in this game, and it isn't something Ottawa fans should have ever had to witness. Karlsson should be a Senator for life, but "things" intervene. I've seen some make the argument that he did not want to be in Ottawa, so they had no choice but to trade him, and that is partially correct...But you then have to question why he didn't want to play here. Everything comes back to Eugene Melnyk, and I am 100% confident that he would stay if there was a new owner. Which is why if you're an eternal optimist, you can hope that Melnyk sells the team before free agency and Karlsson comes back in the summer. But the odds of that happening are slim to none.
In terms of the game, despite the score being 6-2, it was extremely uneventful for almost half the game. In the first period, it was funny to see Karlsson drive the net and snow Craig Anderson on purpose, with some smiles exchanged afterwards. You could tell that he still likes guys on the team and isn't going to hold anything against them. In the second period, Ryan Dzingel, Ben Harpur, and Mikkel Boedker scored in a span of over six minutes, and things were looking good after two periods as they were up 3-1. The goal from Harpur was somehow his first career goal in his 60th game:
Ben Harpur joins the rush for his first career NHL Goal! #GosensGo take a 2-1 lead on the #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/1gxSw1Pd1K
— Alex M (@nhlsensandstuff) December 1, 2018
It was also a weird feeling for Mikkel Boedker and Dylan DeMelo as they played their former team, and Boedker had a day to remember as he scored once and added three assists. It wasn't a game dominated by Ottawa's top players at all, even though Mark Stone had a goal and Thomas Chabot had two assists. Magnus Paajarvi, Zack Smith, and Bobby Ryan all chipped in with two points, and it was a pretty rare well-rounded effort.
On the Sharks side of things, Karlsson finished the game pointless, despite having nine shots on goal and fifteen shot attempts. The narrative will be that he didn't play well enough in his return to Ottawa, but he was doing everything he could to score against his former team, but his new teammates weren't doing enough to help. Kind of sounds familiar...
Besides Karlsson, a big story from today has to be the play of Anderson. Coming off of his first shutout of the season on Thursday, Anderson put up another solid performance with 36 saves on 38 shots. Facing 38 shots is ridiculously high, and he's having to do that every single game. He had no chance on the second goal late in the game as it was tipped in at the last second. With two straight great games, his season SV% is now up to .905%. That is certainly not good, but it was fun and entertaining to see vintage Anderson today.
It was easy to feel good about the team moving forward with this win today, and with three wins in a row, the Senators are just one point out of a playoff spot. Although it's fine to feel good about certain aspects about the team, it would be ludicrous to suggest that the team is better off without Karlsson. It's okay to admit that it was a colossal failure of the organization to keep him here, but at the same time there are young players to be excited about right now and in the future, so that takes out some (but not nearly all) of the sting.
Another odd thing about this game is that I never heard a "Melnyk Out" or any sort of Karlsson chants. Perhaps the fans that went to the game aren't the ones to make those sort of chants, but this game seemed like the perfect opportunity for something like this. This is easily the most hated Melnyk has ever been, so if we aren't going to hear a chant now, I wonder if we ever will.
To Erik Karlsson, all I have to say is...See you on July 1st.