Winnipegger finding his place with Flyers

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This article was published 09/03/2018 (2798 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PHILADELPHIA — He may not be scoring goals like Brock Boeser. And he’s certainly not piling up the assists like Mathew Barzal. But Philadelphia Flyers forward Nolan Patrick has been coming on strong of late, as he works his way through his first NHL season.

The 19-year-old Winnipeg native, selected second-overall in this past summer’s draft, didn’t exactly explode onto the scene as many other first-year players have done.

He had just five goals and eight assists in his first 48 games — including an ugly 25-game stretch from late November to late January where he racked up just one goal and two helpers.

But in his past 11 games, Patrick has scored five times and added four assists, looking much more like the dangerous two-way player who had been ranked so high by scouts. And he’s helped Philadelphia make a strong push toward a playoff spot.

The former junior star with the Brandon Wheat Kings has seen his ice time increase in recent weeks and he’s now centring the second line for the Flyers, most recently between Jakub Voracek and Oskar Lindblom.

He was held off the scoresheet during a mid-November game in Winnipeg, but appears to be a much different player these days. He’ll no doubt have some extra incentive when taking on the Jets this afternoon.

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Patrik Laine is lighting the lamp at an almost historic rate these days.

The sophomore sniper has scored 14 times in his past 10 games — making him just the second player since 2001-02 to put up that many goals over a 10-game span. The only other player to accomplish that feat was Anaheim winger Corey Perry in 2010-11, which was the year he won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player.

Laine is also on a 10-game point streak, the longest of his career, with 14 goals and six assists in that span.

He has scored in nine of those 10 games, and had two assists in the one game he was blanked.

He is just one goal back of Washington Capitals sniper Alexander Ovechkin in the race for the Rocket Richard award as top goal scorer in the league. Laine’s next goal, which will be his 40th of the season, will also move him past Sidney Crosby and into a tie with Wayne Gretzky and Brian Bellows for third all-time in goals scored by a teenager at 76.

The top two — Jimmy Carson with 92 and Dale Hawerchuk with 85 — would appear to be out of reach with only 15 regular-season games left as a 19-year-old. But with the tear Laine’s been on lately, never say never.

“That puck is off Patty’s stick where he wants it now, every time,” Jets head coach Paul Maurice said Friday. “He’s feeling it, he’s feeling good. I still go back to the start of this. You watched him skate today. It’s a different guy skating on the ice. He’s figured it out, the legs are driving a lot of what he’s doing. He’s playing a little faster, it sets his timing up because his timing’s bang on.”

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Toby Enstrom believes his longtime defence partner has never been better.

Dustin Byfuglien has been a major part of the Winnipeg Jets’ recent success, especially after top-pairing defenceman Jacob Trouba went down with an ankle injury in late January.

“I’ve been playing with him for a very long time. Just both sides of the rink, he’s been playing really well for us. The whole year, really. It’s really fun to watch,” Enstrom said Friday.

Byfuglien appears to have cut back on the high-risk plays he was known for, and the results seem to be speaking for themselves. His goals may be down, with just five on the season, but he has put up 17 points in his past 15 games (three goals, 14 assists) along with a plus-14 rating in that span.

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Mark Scheifele will miss a second consecutive game today, but coach Paul Maurice said his No. 1 centre is getting better by the day.

“Making improvement. We’re being real, real careful with this. We just don’t want anything to linger on this, where he’s in and out of the lineup for a week or two. We’ll wait until he’s right,” Maurice said Friday.

Scheifele was hurt in Tuesday’s game in New York, but Maurice is hopeful to get him back in the lineup in the next few days.

Centre Adam Lowry also stepped up the intensity of his practice Friday as he recovers from another upper-body injury that has kept him out 15 games. Maurice has previously targeted next week as a possible return date for him.

Maurice was asked Friday if the Jets’ current position in the Central Division standings — comfortably in second place, six points behind the Nashville Predators and eight up on the Minnesota Wild — can play a factor in not rushing anyone back.

“There’s some truth to that,” Maurice said.

“You do have the luxury. But there’s two pieces to this. The reason you have the luxury is that you’ve got some pretty good depth, so when you’ve had guys out of the lineup you can put other pieces in and have success. And then that depth is what you’re relying on, so it’s good to get those guys to play, and to play better minutes.

“So, there isn’t the urgency to get them back, where if we don’t have Mark in the lineup we can’t win. So, we’ll be patient with them.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg