Sharks Locker Room: Karlsson Best D-Man in NHL? Shaw on Kneeing Svechnikov

The San Jose Sharks are going into the holidays feeling good, beating the Minnesota Wild 5-2 on Thursday night.

It was a four-point masterpiece by Erik Karlsson, but the game was marred by an ugly Mason Shaw knee on Evgeny Svechnikov.

Shaw was ejected, and Svechnikov left the game too, but fortunately, the Russian winger came back for the third period.

Karlsson, Svechnikov, Jaycob Megna, and the San Jose Sharks head coach David Quinn talked about the big win and the bad hit.

Michael Russo of The Athletic also shared Shaw’s thoughts about his major penalty and getting tossed.

Jaycob Megna, on his game-opening assist on the Karlsson goal:

I have a tendency to look for Karl wherever he is this year, and luckily, I found him, and he made a good play.

Megna, on going after Matt Dumba after Dumba hit Matt Nieto:

I didn’t really see what happened, but obviously, he blew him up pretty good. Not sure if it was clean or not. Obviously, there’s a big hit there and just wanted to stand up for Nietsy.

Evgeny Svechnikov, on feeling fortunate that the Mason Shaw knee wasn’t a worst-case scenario injury:

I think I got a little bit lucky. We’ll see how it feels [tomorrow].

Svechnikov, on if he feared the worst:

I thought so. Once I got back in the room, I kind of shook around. We’ll see. It’s still not the best, but we’ll see.

Svechnikov, on what makes Karlsson so special:

He’s unique, obviously, with his hockey IQ. The way he skates, the way he sees the guys. The feeling of hockey with the puck and knowing where people are, when to shoot, when to pass, you just have to feel it. Not many people have the feeling of it.

Shaw: "I didn’t change my angle. I stayed on pretty much the exact same line where I finished the hit. He triesto get out of the way. I hope he’s alright obviously. I see he came back in the game."

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) December 23, 2022

Erik Karlsson, on Shaw hit on Svechnikov:

He hits him right in the knee. It’s a dangerous play. Luckily, Svech was able to come back… Stuff like that is not fun to see. It’s a little bit reckless.

Karlsson, on how important his cool with the puck was on the five-minute major power play:

We definitely capitalized on that, those five minutes. That’s what you want. We got the job done. That’s pretty much it. The guys beared down and played the way that we needed to play. We just capitalized on a good opportunity for us and an unfortunate situation at the same time.

David Quinn, on tonight’s San Jose Sharks’ win:

We’ve had games like this, we’ve had stretches like this. It’s the consistency that we’ve got to try to bottle. The thing I really liked tonight was we managed the puck extremely well. We managed the lead very well. There was just a lot to like about it. I’m just really proud of them and happy for them, it was tough two games [against the Calgary Flames].

Quinn, on how important Karlsson’s cool with the puck was when emotions were running high during the five-minute major power play:

He’s special. He’s unbelievable. You watch that guy out there, he’s playing a video game. It’s really amazing to watch him when he’s on his game. He’s had a hell of a year for us.

I’ve mentioned this plenty of times, not only on the ice, but off the ice. He’s really been everything you could want from a coaching standpoint.

It’s not a mystery why he’s won two Norris Trophies, and I can see more Norris Trophies coming his way.

Quinn, on if he’s concerned with the carelessness of Mason Shaw’s play:

Against us, it’s happened twice, so…I don’t know if “concerning” is the right word. We don’t like it.

Quinn, on if Karlsson can keep up his current scoring pace:

Absolutely. Zero question whether he can keep it up. He stays healthy, he’s gonna keep it up. He’s a special player. He’s the best defenseman in the league. One of the top players in the league, not just best defenseman. This guy, he changes games. He changes games.