Ahead of Erik Karlsson ‘s 1,000th NHL game, several tributes and congratulations were sent to him. One of them came from his current teammate Kris Letang , who praised his skills as a defenseman and called him an “inspiration” for them.
The 33-year-old veteran became the latest member of the 1,000-game club on Saturday night. After being drafted by the Ottawa Senators in 2008, the defenseman has gone on to spend 15 years in the big leagues while representing the Sens, San Jose Sharks and now the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Prior to the game, the Penguins played an emotional video message for it. This contained well wishes from several of his former teammates. From the Penguins organization, the ‘Big Three‘ of Letang, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby congratulated him on this achievement.
You’re an inspiration for defensemen, for me too – watching you play. I wish you 1,000 more
Kris Letang said.
Meanwhile, Sidney Crosby, who just became the 14th NHL player to register 1,000 assists in the league, expressed that he was happy to see him add this milestone to his list of accomplishments. Coincidentally, Crobsy’s 1,000th assist in the league was to him in their recent 6-5 overtime victory against the Red Wings.
You accomplished a lot over your career and happy to see you add this one to the list. Sidney Crosby said.
This also marked the fifth time in the past four seasons where the Penguins celebrated a player’s 1,000th game. Before Karlsson, the trio of Malkin, Letang and Crosby along with Lars Eller completed this feat.
Erik Karlsson reflects on his proudest moment of his career
When he took to skate on the ice on Saturday, Erik Karlsson became the 398th player to play 1,000 games in the NHL. He would later look back at his time in the league and reflect on how him playing here at a young age was one of the proudest moment of his career.
At the age of 19, Karlsson made his way to the NHL from Sweden and joined the Senators. He would later go on to lead the team as their captain.
Just breaking the pattern, maybe, a little bit. I don’t think anyone, myself included, expected me to play as early as I did and be able to have the impact that I did early on when the league was very different than it is today. I was given an opportunity to prove myself early on, and I think did a good job achieving that.
Erik Karlsson said as per Michelle Crechiolo of NHL.com.
Once the pregame ceremony was over, the Pens turned their attention to the business ahead of them. In a tight game against the Boston Bruins, they suffered a huge 6-4 defeat which saw them drop two crucial points. With the Stanley Cup playoffs starting next week, this loss could prove to be a massive dent in their quest to qualify for the knockout stages.
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