Jets’ Laine Finnish-es off victory

Patrik Laine could hardly find a better place than home to show off his high-scoring instincts. Laine, from Finland, had a hat trick as the Winnipeg Jets took a 4-2 victory over the Florida Panthers in a regularseason game yesterday in Helsinki. He scored in the second period and twice in the third, including an empty-netter, in the opener of a back-to-back series between the teams in front of a roaring sellout crowd of 13,500 at Hartwall Arena. The teams play again today in the Finnish capital. “I don’t think you can imagine how good that feels,” Laine said. “It’s good to be home and score all those goals back here. It’s pretty awesome.” He wristed a shot past goalie James Reimer on a power play to claim a 2-1 lead for the Jets with 4:46 left in the second, then slapped a one-timer for the winner on a twoman advantage from the top of the left circle 3:28 into the final period before scoring on an empty net for his fifth career hat trick. Mathieu Perreault scored the opening goal for the Jets (8-4-1) and captain Blake Wheeler and defenseman Dustin Byfuglien and had three assists each. The Panthers (2-5-3), who outshot Winnipeg 38-36, tied the score twice on goals by Keith Yandle and Evgenii Dadonov. Florida captain Aleksander Barkov, also a native of Finland, assisted on Yandle’s goal. Canadiens 6, Capitals 4 — Max Domi broke a tie with 21 seconds left and Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored his first two NHL goals in host Montreal’s victory against Washington. At 18 years and 118 days, Kotkaniemi became the second-youngest goal scorer in franchise history. Senators 4, Sabres 2 — Craig Anderson made 21 of his 46 saves in the third period and host Ottawa held off Buffalo in the first game of a home-and-home series. Stars 2, Maple Leafs 1 — Backup goalie Anton Khudobin made 30 saves to help visiting Dallas beat Toronto. Jamie Benn and Devin Shore scored, and Tyler Seguin added two assists. Patrick Marleau scored for Toronto. Islanders 3, Penguins 2 — Josh Bailey scored a shorthanded goal in the second period and then the only goal in a shootout to lift host New York over Pittsburgh. Predators 4, Lightning 1 — In Tampa, Fla., Pekka Rinne made 42 saves in his return after missing five games with an injury, and Nashville beat Tampa Bay. Red Wings 4, Devils 3 — Justin Abdelkader scored a shorthanded goal midway through the third period and Trevor Daley put the puck in an empty net for another shorthanded score in the final minute, helping host Detroit beat New Jersey. Blues 5, Golden Knights 3 — Oskar Sundqvist scored two goals to lead host St. Louis past Vegas. Elsewhere in the NHL — Commissioner Gary Bettman said the NHL is planning to play a season-opening game in Prague and another two games in Stockholm next season. The future for the NHL’s presence at the next Winter Olympics, in Beijing in 2022, is not bright after Bettman said there’s an overwhelming view in the NHL that the Olympics are “terribly disruptive” to the season and that the previous NHL participation proved “difficult and less than satisfactory.”