Erik Karlsson has played in enough big games to know what this night means, but he still has not reached the one series that defines a spring. The Penguins open the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Flyers in Game 1 on Saturday night in Pittsburgh, and for Karlsson it is another chance to push past a postseason history that has never quite broken his way.
Karlsson, a three-time Norris Trophy winner with 936 career points, said his playoff resume still leaves something to be desired. He is 12th on the NHL's all-time points list for defensemen, but he has never won the Stanley Cup and has never reached a Final. Asked about how close he has come, he answered: “Close, though. Twice,” before adding, “And we should've had it in 2019.”
That 2019 Sharks run remains the nearest he has been. San Jose lost to St. Louis in six games in the Western Conference final, a defeat Karlsson said still stings because injuries had already stripped the team down. “If we were healthy, I think we win everything,” he said. “That one hurt a lot. You could feel that one.”
The 2013 and 2017 runs with Ottawa ended earlier, in the second round and then in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final, part of a pattern that has followed him through a career spent battling teams that often seemed to have the upper hand. “I mean, it's been brutal for me playing against those guys over the course of my career. I never had any real success,” Karlsson said. “So it'll be nice to have them on my side.”
He was traded to Pittsburgh in August 2023 after using the no-trade clause in his contract to approve the move, and the fit has been about more than just a new jersey. Karlsson said he arrived with a purpose. “Obviously, this is why I came here to begin with,” he said. “I believe in this group.” He added that from the outside, and now after three years in the organization, “the potential's always been there.”
That belief is tied to the reason he wanted Pittsburgh in the first place: the chance to chase a championship with a roster that already included players who had beaten him before. He said he was most nervous about meeting Kris Letang when he arrived, and he hoped to make clear that one team could carry two No. 1 defensemen. Saturday night gives him the first real step toward proving that belief in the one place that has mattered most for him all along.