Bleach Clean
Registered User
- Aug 9, 2006
- 27,220
- 6,934
No one else in the league is expected to do what he is expected to do with literally AHLers and healthy scratches
"He should elevate his linemates!!!"
He has a guy who has scored one goal in the entire calendar year and it's mid May on one side, and a guy who was just healthy scratched on the other.
In order to "elevate" his linemates he has to rent an excavator and tunnel underground first. I'd like him to be better, sure, but no other star player in the league has to deal with anything close to this.
While this is all true (and I agree), it doesn't explain Pettersson making neutral zone and dzone mistakes. Not only is he not contributing offensively, he's starting to hurt the team defensively... and that's just unacceptable. At base, you need Game 1 Pettersson back. There, he was doing everything but scoring.
Mikheyev and Karlsson, despite the lack of skill, are creating a possession differential. Pettersson needs to join in that and consistently push play up ice. He does that enough, and a random event will lead to a goal. It's about possession and volume now. Not about the perfect play or skilled help.
Pettersson has to step up, in one form or another. This is it.