Hit on Laine not dirty: Maurice

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This article was published 08/01/2017 (3177 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mark Scheifele had made this sort of split-second decision before.

Picking up a loose puck during the third period Saturday afternoon, the Winnipeg centre started a rush before making a quick backhand pass to Jets teammate Patrik Laine, who was steaming through the neutral zone. Trouble was, Jake McCabe was waiting and moments later, the Buffalo Sabres defenceman lowered the boom, felling Laine with a thunderous hit.

The collision resulted in a concussion for Laine and some serious collateral damage to McCabe’s face.

Scheifele said the speed of the game was the biggest contributor to the collision. Making that pass, however risky as it may seem now, is an essential part of his repertoire.

“I’ve made those plays 100 times,” said Scheifele.

“We usually get a 3-on-2 off it. That was going to happen and that’s the game we played.

“It’s fast and all it takes is a split second to step up. I’m still going to play the exact same way I always play. I’m comfortable with the way I play and the passes that I make. And in this game, you’ve gotta be aware of everything that’s around you.”

Jets head coach Paul Maurice said the hit was neither illegal nor avoidable.

“That’s a flat pass to an open guy,” said Maurice. “It’s not in his feet, it’s not from behind. Mark, 99 times out of 100 the D are pulling out on that because of the speed that we’ve got going through. And listen, this is happening fast, right? You don’t have time. You need to check early, what your lanes are coming up the ice — (there’s) nothing wrong with that pass.

“It’s a hard hit and when you get a collision like that, there aren’t the markers of a dirty hit. The elbows aren’t up, they’re not up off their feet. They collided and both heads hit and we had a bad result.

‘It’s a situation where players make reads and you have to be able to react to them’– Mark Scheifele

“I don’t know what their result was, but it was an awfully hard hit.”

Should Laine have been more aware of McCabe’s presence?

“It’s tough to say — it’s a quick game,” said Scheifele. “It’s a situation where players make reads and you have to be able to react to them.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @sawa14

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