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Easier said than done.

Karlsson is an elusive, fast-skating, quick-decision puck-mover who cannot only change the tempo of the game, he can also be a difference-maker. He finished second to Brent Burns in Norris Trophy balloting last season and his 17 goals and 54 assists were impressive. So were 18 points in 19 playoff games before the Senators were eliminated in seven games in the Eastern Conference final.

“You have to be careful that you don’t over-commit to him,” cautioned winger Derek Dorsett. “Sometimes, you can get a little anxious because you want to play a guy like that hard. He’s going to play a lot of minutes and you want to wear him down, but you have to be careful because he can escape from a lot of situations.”

It just adds another layer of concern to get a trip off to the right start before stops in Boston on Thursday, Buffalo on Friday, Detroit on Sunday and Minnesota a week from this Tuesday.

The Sens were without defencemen Johnny Oduya, Ben Harper and Karlsson, but still piled up 42 shots in a 3-2 shootout win here last Tuesday. They clogged up the neutral zone with a suffocating 1-3-1 trap, forechecked ferociously and Canucks coach Travis Green bemoaned that his club was soft on too many puck battles.

If that isn’t enough, the injury-ravaged Canucks were 12-26-3 on the road last season — only the Colorado Avalanche were worse at 9-30-2 — and they’re trending in the wrong direction. An uptempo, high-risk, high-reward system has placed a premium on pace. It’s fun to watch, but fraught with danger.