Rangers play tough against Senators' Karlsson
Erik Karlsson #65 of the Ottawa Senators controls the puck against Carl Hagelin #62 of the New York Rangers during Game One of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden. (April 12, 2012) Credit: Jim McIsaac
GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- It was a sight the Rangers want to see more of in this series: Erik Karlsson, the Senators' talented defenseman and Norris Trophy candidate, pleading his case with one of the referees, to no avail.
Karlsson, the 21-year-old catalyst for Ottawa's high-speed, high-powered offense, is a natural target for the Rangers' wave of physical forwards, given that Karlsson is a defenseman generously listed at 6 feet and 180 pounds and his 78 points were far and away tops among NHL defensemen.
This also is Karlsson's first postseason as an elite player, and the Rangers seemed to feel Thursday night that an extra dose of physical play for Ottawa's elite defenseman could throw him off his game and get him pleading with the refs for some attention. He was doing just that at the end of the first period Thursday, asking ref Tom Kowal for some consideration. Kowal dismissed Karlsson with a wave of the hand.
"You can never know if you can rattle a guy," Brandon Prust said. "We have to be concerned with interrupting his ability to make a play, not just trying to single him out. We have to play that way against everyone on that team. But he definitely makes their offense go."
Prust got off on a shorthanded try late in the first period, with Karlsson chasing back to help disrupt it. Brian Boyle came in late and, when Karlsson tried to stand up to Boyle after the whistle, the 6-6 Ranger delivered a handful of gloved punches to Karlsson's head.
Both players went off for two minutes, a trade the Rangers gladly took. Karlsson finished the game with three shots on goal, no points and a minus-1 rating in a team-high 24:23.
"If you start fishing for the puck, he's a guy who can really hurt you, so you just play a strong game on him the way you would anyone else," said Boyle, whose second-period goal appeared to clip off Karlsson's stick and past Craig Anderson.
After Thursday's win, Boyle stood in front of his locker. A Canadian reporter asked him what Karlsson said or did to draw such a response during the players' first-period scrum.
"Nothing," Boyle said. "Just part of the game."
Against the Senators' best defenseman, it certainly is.
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