Leaner-looking Laine contributing despite not scoring
NEW YORK — Patrik Laine didn’t find the back of the net in the Winnipeg Jets’ first two games, but he made his presence felt.
Looking leaner and more fit than in years past, Laine’s skating was strong and he made a couple of tenacious plays that led to goals in Friday night’s 5-4 shootout win over the New Jersey Devils.
Laine played a big role in the Jets third and fourth goals as they erased a 4-0 deficit, scoring three times in the third period.
On the third goal, by Mathieu Perreault, Laine won a puck battled behind the net, allowing centre Andrew Copp to pick it up and feed it to Perreault in the slot. Perreault, replacing Kyle Connor on a line change, buried a low shot past Devils’ replacement goalie Mackenzie Blackwood.
On the fourth goal, the Jets had a couple minutes of extended pressure in the Devils zone and Laine made a great play to knock down a clearing attempt and keep it in. That allowed the Jets to get in a line change, keep circling, keep the puck moving and eventually defenceman Neal Pionk moved into the middle and buried a shot past Blackwood, who was screened by centre Mark Scheifele.
“That keep is the key because we’ve got them in trouble,” Maurice said. “But if they clear that puck, it’s over. At that point, how do we rotate guys off, which is hard to do in first and third periods. Usually, you go until you’re done. But we got a piece of a change in there and then, it was a real nice shot by (Pionk).”
Maurice likes what he sees so far from Laine, who missed all of training camp and the pre-season while negotiating a new contract.
“Perreault’s goal is right off his stick,” Maurice said. “It’s a fantastic pass (from Copp) that makes it happen. Patrik’s got a bunch of assists and the puck is not going in for him, but he’s playing hard and he’s doing good things. For guys like that, they can produce if we can win some games. He’s going to get hot at some point and he’ll help in that way as well.”