Karlsson was determined to play despite injury: GM
If you think Erik Karlsson walks on water, you need not go any further for proof.
Ottawa Senators GM Pierre Dorion pretty much confirmed that fact about the club’s captain Monday.
Karlsson, who revealed after Sunday’s 3-2 overtime victory over the Boston Bruins that he suffered two hairline fractures in his foot when he blocked a shot by the Philadelphia Flyers on March 28, caught Dorion off-guard by admitting he wasn’t completely healthy.
“Was I surprised? A bit,” Dorion said. “What do you say? I’ll probably get in trouble for saying this but, you believe in whatever you believe in, and they always say God rested on the seventh day, I think on the eighth day he created Erik Karlsson.
“We’re fortunate to have Erik Karlsson. Surprised? Yeah, but I know that the injury wasn’t bothering him as much as it was as when we played Detroit.”
Karlsson has been wearing foot protection on his skates.
He is close to healed, but Dorion said the 26-year-old Swede has been playing through a lot of pain. Dorion shared the story about Karlsson’s decision to fly to Detroit when the injury may have been at its worst.
Karlsson, who had missed two games with the injury, called Dorion April 6 and wanted to get on a plane to the Motor City after skating in Ottawa in the morning.
“He made the call. He said, ‘I’m coming down.’ We thought he should rest up and, hopefully, we would get in the playoffs and he just made the call, ‘I’m coming down,’ ” Dorion said. “That day we got a plane for him to come down and I know he played through a lot of pain in those two games to get us to the playoffs.
“The injury has healed over time. He’s not 100 per cent. He probably won’t be 100 per cent until next September, but the ability he has to play through pain and to be as dominant as he has been and not be 100 per cent says a lot about him.”