Laine absence an unfillable hole

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This article was published 15/01/2017 (3164 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SAN JOSE — Blame it on Patrik Laine.

Or, more specifically, a lack of Laine the past week as the 18-year-old Winnipeg Jets rookie phenom continues to recover from symptoms of a concussion sustained Jan. 7 in a game in Buffalo against the Sabres.

It’s been the biggest mystery all week in Jets Nation — how did a team that head coach Paul Maurice said over the weekend was playing its best hockey all season in the first week of January suddenly become the sad sacks — and drama queens — that lost three in a row last week?

Poor goaltending, sure. But that doesn’t explain the 3-2 overtime loss Saturday night in Los Angeles to the Kings, when Michael Hutchinson turned away 35 of 38 shots.

Lousy team defence? Definitely. You’re not going to win in the NHL when you’re giving up seven goals in a game, as the Jets did against Montreal last Wednesday. Add four more goals against in a 4-3 loss to Arizona Friday night and the three goals against in L.A. and the Jets have given up 14 goals in three games. No wonder they’re losing.

Layered on top of it all is this: it cannot be purely a coincidence the Jets have gone into a three-game losing skid at the same time as the best pure talent on their team has been removed from the lineup.

Take Connor McDavid out of the Edmonton Oilers lineup or Auston Matthews out of the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup and see what happens.

These sorts of young generational talents are not easily replaced. They make huge offensive contributions. They make everyone else around them better. And they make room on the ice because of all the attention they attract from opponents.

The loss of Laine has been a big void to fill and you haven’t had to look hard over the past week to notice how conspicuous Laine is by his absence from a team that is 1-2-1 since he went down, heading into today’s contest here against the San Jose Sharks.

Now, nothing was going to help the Jets in that 7-4 loss to the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday night at MTS Centre. That was just a pathetic performance — and the second coming of Gordie Howe wasn’t going to help the Jets that night.

How good would Laine have looked on the ice in the third period Friday night in Glendale as the Jets were mounting a furious third-period comeback attempt, shelling Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith from every angle?

And how good would Laine have looked on the ice for the Jets Saturday night in a tight game against the Kings?

It is exactly those kinds of games where Laine has provided the margin of difference so often in a rookie campaign in which — time and time again — the Jets have gone as Laine has gone.

He’s got four game-winners this season, but that doesn’t begin to tell the whole story of a season in which the Jets are two completely different teams depending on whether Laine scores.

Consider: the Jets are 12-2-1 in games when Laine scores and 7-17-2 when he doesn’t.

With those eye-popping numbers as a backdrop, is it any wonder the Jets have earned just a single point in their last three games with Laine out of the lineup?

Laine’s still tied for the rookie scoring lead, but what would have really helped the last couple of games for the Jets was Laine’s remarkably accurate shot, which leads all rookies at 18.9 per cent.

A snipe by Laine Friday night in Arizona or Saturday in Los Angeles — or both — would have been a difference-maker and gone a long way to stopping the hand-wringing going on in Jets Nation right now.

Now, does this Jets team have problems other than just the absence of one of the game’s best young talents? They certainly do.

The bottom line is this: you knew from the moment Laine went down in Buffalo he was going to be out for awhile — no one is going to rush an 18-year-old talent like that back from a concussion. And you also knew his absence was going to hurt the Jets.

We’re finding out — the hard way — just how much.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @PaulWiecek