SCORING FEAST BECOMES FAMINE FOR JETS SNIPER
After notching 18 goals in November, Laine has yet to find the range this month
The calendar page has turned, and so have the fortunes of Patrik Laine.
The man who claimed November as his own by scoring almost at will hasn’t been able to buy a goal in five games this month. That equals the longest drought the Winnipeg Jets phenom has seen this season. Laine himself has no idea how these things work.
“I’ve been playing hockey for many years. It doesn’t always go in,” he was saying Monday. “Every hockey player knows that. It doesn’t matter because we’re still winning as a team, and that’s the most important thing. “But eventually they’ll go in, like you saw last month.” Laine’s last five-game dry spell ended with that hat trick in Helsinki. By this time in November, he’d scored five. Taking three games to catch his breath, he scored 11 in his next four games, including five goals on five shots against St. Louis.
Those same hands have come up empty in 11 shots over the last five games.
Laine did end a four-game pointless streak with two assists on Sunday against Philadelphia, at least beginning to balance a stats line (21-5) that still looks more like a Cy Young Awardwinning season than it does a 29-game glimpse into one man’s hockey year.
But if you’re trying to sell the idea that a nice apple is as good as a goal, Laine’s not buying that, either.
“No, no, no,” Laine said. “Never. Never.”
Tell us how you really feel, Patrik.
“I don’t really care about assists. It doesn’t really matter to me. Points are always points, and I’ll take them. But I’m not worrying about that too much.” Having said all that, No. 29 does want people to know he’s more than just a pretty shot. “Obviously it’s only my opinion, but I think I’ve showed in these 180-something games that I’ve played that I’m a pretty good passer, too,” Laine said.
“I think I have good vision and I can still see the plays, and sometimes make the plays, as well. Obviously everybody’s just talking about my shot and my scoring ability, but I think I’m a pretty good passer, too.” Of course, that’s a little like Einstein trying to tell people he’s also handy with a wrench. With Laine’s tools, the goals, like Christmas, are coming.
BRAGGING RIGHTS
I think I have good vision and I can still see the plays, and sometimes make the plays as well. Obviously everybody’s just talking about my shot and my scoring ability, but I think I’m a pretty good passer, too.
It turns out there’s a little competition between the Jets’ two power play units.
And for one of the few times this season, the second unit was lording it over the first team after popping two goals in Sunday’s 7-1 win over Philadelphia.
“It felt pretty good,” a chuckling Nik Ehlers said. “Patty has a great shot, and you want to see him get that shot off, of course. But when the other team’s PK is doing good at taking that pass away or that shot away, you’ve got to find new ways.” Ehlers picked up assists on power play goals from Josh Morrissey and Bryan Little. The No. 1 unit, which got a goal from Dustin Byfuglien, usually gets the vast majority of power play time. It also has Blake Wheeler feeding Laine and Mark Scheifele.
Ehlers says it was nice to see the Jets score a few from different locations.
“Our power play, the second one, we don’t exactly have that one shooter, like Patty, who we’re trying to feed it to,” Ehlers said. “We try to find something that’s open every single time, and if it’s not there, we take it back and find something else.
“You want to see them score when they get on first, and when they don’t, we know it’s our time to get one. And we were able to do that. We created a bunch of chances.”
They’ll enjoy the bragging rights while they can.
ABOUT THAT FIRST
It seems the Jets weren’t letting the romp over Philly gloss over their lousy first period. Without a sparkling performance from goalie Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg would have been fighting from behind. “One hundred per cent,” Ehlers said. “You want to be ready from the puck drop. And we weren’t. Sometimes you’re going to have five or 10 minutes when it’s not going your way. But (Sunday) it was almost a full 20, and that can’t happen if we want to make it far.”
Ehlers says they talked about simplifying things, and that changed everything.
Of course, the Jets came out of that first period with a 2-1 lead, despite how poorly they had played.
“That tells something about the team,” Laine said. “It’s really special.”
Before he was even asked, Laine said the Jets can’t lean on their ability to turn things around at the flip of a switch. “Now, when the games are getting harder, we’ve got to play a full 60,” he said. “Because, if we play a good team, they’re not going to give us any easy goals. If we play a first like we did in Calgary, it was 5-1 after one. And the good teams are not going to give us four goals in two periods. We’ve just got to be ready from the start.”
PERREAULT DINGED UP
Jets head coach Paul Maurice got the day off from media obligations, but passed on an explanation for some absences from practice, as follows.
■ Forward Mathieu Perreault is questionable for Tuesday’s game with Chicago and will be a gametime decision.
■ Defenceman Josh Morrissey was simply taking a “maintenance day” and is expected to play.
■ Ditto for goalie Connor Hellebuyck.
The two Jets remaining on the injured list are forward Andrew Copp and defenceman Joe Morrow.