Laine leads Jets to victory

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This article was published 08/02/2020 (2038 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Memo to the rest of the NHL: Patrik Laine appears to be feeling it again.

That’s good news for the Winnipeg Jets, who rode a three-goal performance from their streaky Finnish sniper to a 5-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators at Bell MTS Place Saturday afternoon.

The eighth career hat trick from Laine — and first since his memorable five-goal game against the St. Louis Blues in November 2018 — was just what the doctor ordered as the Jets began a six-game homestand and stretch of nine straight games against teams currently below the playoff line.

“Had some chances and it was a good day,” is how the man of the hour described his performance. 

Laine’s 21st, 22nd and 23rd of the year all came on the power play, which had gone 13 straight opportunities without cashing in and was stuck in a 1-for-26 rut. But in the blink of an eye, the Jets went from ice cold to red-hot.

“It’s always fun to play power play, but obviously more fun when you’re scoring,” said Laine, who has eight goals in his last eight games. “We were getting some friendly bounces and we were able to bury. So hopefully this is good for our power play and gives us some confidence for the future.”

The Jets improve 28-23-5, and are 3-0-1 in their last four games. Ottawa falls to 18-26-11.

It was a spirited first period, with both Nathan Beaulieu and Blake Wheeler dropping the gloves in a pair of fights that woke everyone up from what could have been a sleepy Saturday slumber.

“The fear I had coming into the game wasn’t the Ottawa effect, it was four heavy, heavy games with a lot of emotion in those games, a big road win that you come out and you’re a little bit flat. I didn’t think we did, but we got a couple of tilts early, those tell you the guys are wired for the game, there was lot of energy,” said coach Paul Maurice.

“I was afraid of a lack of legs here, based on (Friday’s) practice. But the opposite was true, I thought we skated exceptionally well here and got the puck from our end to theirs as quick as we could.”

Wheeler took exception to an unpenalized hit from behind Brady Tkachuk threw on Neal Pionk. 

“I thought it was awesome. That’s why he’s our captain. It’s something we’ve said in the locker room to start the year, to stick up for each other. Really appreciate it,” said Pionk.

Pionk got the scoring started, as his point shot through a maze of traffic gave the Jets the lead just 8:48 into the game. His sixth goal of the season was perfectly placed through a screen set by Jets centre Mark Scheifele. 

Ottawa’s Jean-Gabriel Pageau tied it just 25 seconds into second period, batting home a Tkachuk pass on a two-on-one rush. Kyle Connor restored the lead for Winnipeg at 7:49, scoring his team-leading 26th of the season.

Then it was time for “Hat-trick” Laine to go to work. 

With Ottawa defenceman Mike Reilly in the box for hooking, Laine knocked in a rebound at 17:04 to make it a 3-1 game. That’s not his usual office for scoring with the man-advantage.

“No, gotta find new ways to score. Haven’t scored that many goals from my spot,” Laine said, using finger quotes to emphasize the last two words. “So just try to change it up a little bit, go to different spots and maybe get those kind of dirty goals and tips, that kind of stuff.”

The Senators quickly got it back off an ugly Pionk giveaway. Laurent Brossoit went behind the Winnipeg net, stopping a dump-in. He passed to Pionk, who then whiffed on his own pass attempt and put it right on the stick of Mikkel Boedker, who fired it into the empty-net at 18:29.

“It wasn’t even that I got embarrassed on the turnover, I let LB down. I owe him something. I owe him a steak dinner, I think. He didn’t even have a chance to save it. It happens sometimes. I just went off the heel of my stick,” Pionk said.

Pionk rebounded, and quickly. With Thomas Chabot called for hooking, Pionk’s point shot was deftly tipped by Laine at 19:48 to restore the two-goal lead.

“It’s pretty cool, especially having a front-row seat to it. If you get him the puck within the slot there and he doesn’t have anybody on him, he’s going to put it in,” said Pionk, who added two assists.

Laine finished the scoring at 8:43 of the third period, one-timing a Wheeler pass on a four-on-one rush. Laine had created the odd-man rush with a tremendous hustle back-check that broke up a three-on-one shorthanded rush by the Senators. It’s a perfect example of how much his overall two-way game has evolved.

Connor also had a big day, with three assists to go along with his goal. He believes the Jets carried the momentum from a tough stretch of recent hockey which included a pair of wins over the Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues, an overtime loss to Nashville and a hard-fought 2-1 loss to Boston.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg