from Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal,

Perception is a strange thing. Dallas forward Tyler Seguin has 26 goals and people say he’s been on fire. Same with Rangers’ winger Rick Nash. Tampa captain Steve Stamkos has 25 goals and people say “slow start.”

That’s the cross you bear when you’re 24 and you’ve had a 51 and 60-goal season. The bar is set considerably higher for Stamkos, who has four goals in his last three games, than anybody else in the NHL, save for maybe Alex Ovechkin who has had a “slow start” with his 22 goals, but is an eye-popping plus 10 under new coach Barry Trotz after being minus 35 last year for Adam Oates in Washington.

Stamkos has only had five multi-goal outings in the first 45 Tampa games, so people have questioned if his hands have gone a little cold. In one eight-game stretch from Dec. 11 through Dec. 27 he only scored in two games. But, the longest he’s gone without a goal is three games. Mere mortals would die for, uh, those troubles. Oiler winger Jordan Eberle, who has the best hands on that team, has had a five, seven and nine-game drought this season.

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