Laine determined to improve every day

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This article was published 20/11/2016 (3275 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Patrik Laine’s in good company, tied for the NHL goal-scoring lead — one-quarter of the way through his first NHL season — with Sidney Crosby, only the game’s greatest player for more than a decade.

Laine’s got a dozen, three more than his hockey hero, Washington Capitals superstar Alexander Ovechkin. And other snipers, such as Tyler Seguin, Vladimir Tarasenko, Matt Duchene, Patrick Kane and Joe Pavelski, are stuck in his rear-view mirror.

At 18, he’s caught the entire hockey world by storm, and Winnipeg Jets fans are delighted to be at the epicentre. When the clouds cleared following a rocky 2015-16 season and the draft lottery balls landed, Laine was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

He’s already got a pair of hat tricks, a thrilling overtime winner and a shootout tally that’s sure to live on in highlight packages for years to come.

While he’s scoreless on the three-game road trip and has just one goal in his last seven, Laine hasn’t been a disappointment to anyone — except maybe himself.

Speaking candidly — as he always does — this weekend, the Finnish-born forward, chosen second overall at this past summer’s NHL Draft, said he set some lofty goals for himself when he settled in the Manitoba capital in September.

He’s ahead of the pace on some of them. Others? Well, the kid says he’s falling a little short.

“You have to play your best game the whole time. If you are not on your game, it’s minus-4, like in the last game,” Laine said.

Indeed, he finished up with the ugly stat Thursday night in Philadelphia following the Jets’ 5-2 loss to the Flyers. On Saturday, during Winnipeg’s shoddy effort in a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the host Boston Bruins, Laine was a minus-1, helped only by an assist on Adam Lowry’s rather inconsequential goal with less than three minutes left in the game.

In Raleigh, N.C., he skated on a new line with Adam Lowry and Andrew Copp, but couldn’t produce against the streaking Carolina Hurricanes. 

At 6-5, 205 pounds, Laine strikes an imposing figure, but he still lacks the strength that comes with growing into a big body. He’s not yet tough enough on the wall, and that’s resulted in some costly turnovers and, thus, the minuses on the stats sheet. Sometimes, he cheats and leaves the defensive zone early.

The game film doesn’t lie. Laine’s seen his miscues and he’s intent on being more defensively responsible.

“You just have to learn from your mistakes and try to be better every day and try to hope that we can be better as a team and I can be better as a player,” he said.

Laine said he isn’t satisfied with 12 goals. He thinks about the pucks that didn’t go in. He thinks about the games he didn’t score in — 14, to be exact.

Winnipeg’s success is undeniably linked to his ability to light the lamp. The team has won six of the seven games in which he has scored, a fact not lost on the young right-winger.

“I hope that I can bring some offensive game to our team and to help this power play and to just help this team win,” he said. “I think I’ve managed to do that pretty well so far but I have to be better every day. We need more points as a team, so we have to play better and I have to be better.”

Asked to clarify what being better means to him, the teen’s honesty was almost amusing.

“I think just not being on the ice every time the opponent scores, and just defend well,” said Laine. “And if I got the scoring chance, like I got a couple good scoring chances in the last game (against Philadelphia), you just have to score from those. So, I think that’s one thing of the many that I can be better.”

Laine has taken 57 shots through 21 games (a 21.1 shooting percentage). At least 20 of the NHL’s upper-echelon point-getters have fired more pucks at opposing goalies.

He’s pledged to unleash that wicked shot more often, something his coach likes to hear.

“I like Patrik thinking he should shoot the puck more, I’m all for that,” said bench boss Paul Maurice, noting the youngster is also committed to making strides in the less-flashy but critical aspects of the pro game.

“The adjustments we’ve asked him to make about the defensive structures of the league and of our team, he’s adhered to those. He understands that there’s more to what he’ll do for our team than scoring goals. We love the goals and that’s a big part of his game. But this guy is a top-six player at 18, which means he’s playing against top-four, top-two set of (defence) on that line.

“The margin for error and what you give up against top lines is dangerous, so those are all things that young players or amateur players don’t spend a lot of time thinking about. So, there’s a lot to kind of cram in,” added Maurice. “We’ve probably worked hard at not over-coaching the young man, and he’s a quick learner, a quick study.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell