So-so start to sophomore season

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This article was published 30/10/2017 (2874 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Patrik Laine has provided many incredible highlight-reel moments in his short time with the Winnipeg Jets.

But the video of him making a costly turnover, then losing a foot race to Phil Kessel, who scored the overtime winner on a breakaway against the Penguins in Pittsburgh last week, certainly won’t be among them. Nor would losing a puck battle the next night in Columbus, which led to the Blue Jackets winning in overtime.

Laine, 19, has had an up-and-down start to his sophomore season, with four goals and two assists through the first 10 games and a plus/minus of even. Good numbers for your average player, sure. But for those expecting nightly magic from the Finnish sniper, perhaps a tad underwhelming as he experiences some growing pains.

But if Laine is concerned about a reduction in production, he’s certainly not showing it. He said Monday the only number he truly cares about is in the win column for his team.

“For me, and I think for the whole team, it’s defence first. That’s the first priority for our team. We have to defend well so we can win these games,” Laine said Monday following a brief practice at Bell MTS Place before the Jets boarded the charter for Minnesota, where they’ll take on the Wild tonight.

The Jets came out of the gate looking very much like the same defensively loose team from last season, surrendering 13 goals in a pair of lopsided losses to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames.

Since then, Winnipeg has one regulation loss in their past eight games (5-1-2) and has given up just 18 goals.

Jets head coach Paul Maurice said in training camp one of the key areas was getting his talented, skilled young players to buy in to the defence-first mentality, even if it comes at the expense of their own offensive statistics.

“I think my five-on-five game is pretty good. It’s pretty solid,” Laine said Monday.

He was kept off the scoresheet in the pair of 2-1 overtime losses last week in which he struggled during the three-on-three format, then was blanked for a third straight game on Sunday as the Jets routed the visiting Penguins 7-1.

“When one line is not scoring, the other ones are. That’s a good thing, because obviously we can’t score every night. So it’s good to have a lot of depth in our offence,” said Laine, who has been skating on a line with Bryan Little and Nikolaj Ehlers.

Laine certainly isn’t sneaking up on opponents this year, as he may have done early in a phenomenal rookie season that saw him set the bar extremely high with 36 goals and 28 assists in 73 games. That had many fans and pundits salivating at what he might do for an encore, with predictions of a 50-goal campaign being tossed around.

Laine said he doesn’t believe he’s being checked any closer. He also doesn’t believe he’s lost any foot speed despite putting on about 10 pounds during the off-season and admittedly only skating a handful of times during the summer.

“I feel there is just as much room as there was last year,” said Laine, whose numbers through 10 games would still project him to surpass the 30-goal mark.

It’s worth noting the Jets’ power play, of which he is a big part, has yet to really click this season. Winnipeg is just five-for-34 (14.7 per cent) with the man advantage. Laine has two of those goals.

If and when the power play heats up, Laine’s statistics will likely start climbing as well.

“Yeah, we’ve been struggling with the power play. I think when we try to be simple it will work and be good,” he said.

Laine has 30 shots on goal through 10 games, which is second most on the team next to Blake Wheeler’s 35. That’s a 13.3 per cent shooting percentage. At three shots a game, he’s actually firing the puck more than last year when he put 204 on net in his 73 games, with a 17.6 per cent success rate.

Laine has also missed the net a team-high 14 times this season. He was fourth on the team last campaign with 80 misses.

Laine and his teammates will face a tough offensive challenge tonight against a stingy Wild team. However, Laine did score twice in their last meeting on Oct. 20 in which Winnipeg won 4-3.

“The same Minnesota as always,” Laine said when asked what to expect. “They have a lot of skill, just a good team. We just need to play our game, very simple, get pucks to the net.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @mikemcintyrewpg