In the midst of what’s shaping up to be his best all-round season, Erik Karlsson is mired in the second longest slump of his career.
The Senators captain hasn’t scored in 20 games — almost two months factoring in the scheduled breaks — dating back to Dec. 7 in San Jose, when he had a goal for the third consecutive outing.
Not since he was a teenaged rookie has Karlsson experienced such a drought. That 2009-10 season, he went through spans of 29 games (Dec. 21-Mar. 20) and 20 games (Oct. 3-Dec. 18) without a goal. He finished the campaign with five in 60 games.