On Monday morning, Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson skated on his own in Ottawa and his injured foot felt pretty good. Good enough that he adjusted his day’s plans pretty dramatically. He hopped on a plane and by late afternoon he was with his teammates in Detroit. Teammates that had no idea he suddenly had every intention of playing in a game the Senators absolutely needed to right the ship.
“Nobody knew,” said Senators center Kyle Turris.
“I didn’t really tell anyone, not even my teammates,” Karlsson said.
Then, of course, he scored a goal in regulation and nearly had another one in overtime. Ottawa lost in the shootout, but Karlsson’s efforts to return early show how desperate things are getting for the Senators.
Ottawa is 2-5-3 in its last 10 games and the loss in Detroit was its fifth consecutive.
On the morning of the game, Guy Boucher announced that defensemen Cody Ceci and Marc Methot, along with winger Zack Smith, would be out for the season with their assorted injuries. He was corrected slightly by someone nearby. They’d be out for the regular season. Their playoff fates still haven’t been determined.
This would be a heck of a way to enter the postseason, if the Senators can hang on. The playoffs are a battle of attrition, especially on defense where teams make a point of lining up defensemen going back for the puck. At this point, Boucher was missing three of his top four defensemen before Karlsson turned into Superman.
Still, even with all the injuries, Boucher shared a bit of the mentality the Senators have had all season long, one that makes him believe they can survive.
“We’ve had a crazy year, with crazy stuff happening to us all year,” Boucher said. “Some stuff people know, some stuff people don’t know. We fought through all of it all year long. There’s no difference now for us. We’ve been in adversity fight mode, we’ve gone through all the tough times, missing all kinds of guys through all kinds of periods of the year, and we’ve pulled through. There’s no difference now.”
He’s right. The Senators have dealt with more than their share of issues on and off the ice this season.
Even with Karlsson’s return, the concern about whether this team can overcome it all in the postseason remains high. Like a few teams around the NHL, the quality of play hasn’t been where it needs to be heading into the spring.
In assessing our concern level for other struggling franchises heading into the postseason, let’s start with Ottawa. On a concern-meter scale of 1 to 10, the Senators are firmly at an 8 -- down from a 10 with Karlsson back in the lineup.
Let’s dive in to the other struggling teams:
San Jose Sharks
On Sunday, following a collision against the Canucks, Joe Thornton emerged in real pain and headed right down the tunnel. This is notable for a couple reasons. One, he’s a future Hall of Famer whose health and productivity the Sharks need to make a postseason run. Two, he’s not one to overreact to anything -- ever.
So when Thornton reacted the way he did following that injury, clearly in pain while hunched over skating to the bench, it sounded alarm bells. According to a Sharks source, there will likely be a Thornton injury update given Tuesday.
Before that happened, the Sharks were already struggling. Logan Couture is also banged up. This is not the way this team wanted to enter the postseason. Even if Thornton can play, you’d expect him to be playing through pain. It’s not good.
Concern level: 9 out of 10
Minnesota Wild
March wasn’t kind to the Wild. They lost 12 games and had losing streaks of both five games and four games. Devan Dubnyk posted a save percentage of .889 and got time off. Multiple players went into goal slumps and it looked like trade deadline addition Martin Hanzal was a misfit in the lineup.
There were a lot of reasons to be concerned about the Wild but they also had little to play for. While other teams were fighting for their playoff lives, Minnesota was sitting firmly in the No. 2 spot in the Central Division. The Wild weren’t going to catch Chicago. They weren’t going to drop to three.
The Wild need the playoffs to get here and there are signs they’ve righted the ship as the season winds down. The Wild have won two of three. Dubnyk stopped 30 of 32 shots on goal in his last start. They’ve scored five goals twice in three games.
The Wild may be shaking off the cobwebs in the final stretch.
Concern level: 6 out of 10
Calgary Flames
The Flames ripped off 10 wins in a row to help secure a return to the postseason. It was impressive, but we knew at some point that Calgary would return to earth. At least we suspected it. Since that streak, the Flames are a more pedestrian 5-5, including losses to possible future playoff opponents Anaheim and Nashville.
Two of those losses came with Chad Johnson in goal, which likely won’t happen in the postseason. Brian Elliott has still maintained solid play, with a .915 save percentage in that 10-game stretch.
Just as important has been the production of Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau, who have combined for 24 points since the winning streak ended. They’re still producing, and the Flames remain a dangerous team heading into the playoffs.
Concern level: 2 out of 10
Columbus Blue Jackets
This is less about the mini-slide the Blue Jackets have been on entering Tuesday's playoff preview against the Penguins. Columbus has lost three straight, which isn’t the end of the world. A win over Pittsburgh alleviates those concerns. But the power play, the engine behind so much of the Blue Jackets' early season success, has gone cold. The last Columbus power play goal came during a win over Philadelphia on March 13. Once firmly at the top of the league, the power play has dropped to No. 12 overall. Since Jan. 1, it has converted just 12.5 percent on the power play, No. 29 in the league in that span.
It doesn’t get any easier in the playoffs, when penalty kills tend to have the edge of power plays.
Add in what looked like a shoulder injury to rookie defenseman Zach Werenski (officially day-to-day), and the concerns on the power play are heightened. If he’s not playing at a high level in the postseason, Columbus will lean even more on Sergei Bobrovsky for success than it already does.
Concern level: 7 out of 10.