WINNIPEG – Most NHL players wait years for a night like this.
Patrik Laine needed all of seven days.
Seeing the hats rain down on the Winnipeg Jets rookie after his overtime winner against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night provided a pretty good reminder that he has a place in any conversation involving Auston Matthews.
This was a performance every bit as dramatic as the historic four-goal debut Matthews authored in Ottawa last week.
“You saw Matthews do it in the first game,” Jets forward Mark Scheifele said after Winnipeg’s 5-4 victory. “Both of those players are special and I guess it was Laine’s turn today.”
It is difficult to underscore just how impressive it is to see teenagers making this kind of impact so early in their careers. This sort of thing simply doesn’t happen.
Matthews and Laine, the top two picks in June’s draft, each have four goals to show for their first week of work as NHL players.
Three of those belonging to Laine arrived over a dominant stretch of 21:40 against Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen. It included the tying goal with 54.5 second remaining in regulation, and the winner courtesy of his patented wrist shot in overtime.
The boisterous MTS Centre crowd, which had bellowed “Laine’s better!” during the third period, exploded in celebration.
“I heard something and that sounds pretty good,” Laine said when asked about the chant.
He made sure to add that it was merely the opinion of the paying customers, not his own. It was yet one more reminder of how life has changed for these two young men in the months since they were drafted.
They are still finding their place in the league – even if it’s already evident to observers that they’re well on their way to stardom.
Neither wants to make headlines for anything other than his play on the ice. Laine emerged as a big personality in the spring, repeatedly stating that he was worthy of the No. 1 pick over Matthews, but is no longer making statements using a bold font.
Fortunately, there are still a few people hanging around the Jets occasionally willing to do it for him.
“I’ve never seen anybody score goals like Patrik Laine does in practice ever – in 20 years,” said veteran coach Paul Maurice. “There are guys that are good shooters in practice and they can’t seem to find a way to translate that into a game.
“He has a gift, there’s no question about it.”
Enthusiasm and excitement were both easy emotions at the end of a night like this. The Jets had fallen behind 4-0 before the midway point of the game – “The first two periods I was not playing my game and I was actually pretty bad,” said Laine – and then their fortunes shifted in an instant.
The NHL is a man’s league, but this game was bent by the skill of a fun-loving, 18-year-old from Tampere, Finland.
One thing he and Matthews have in common is that each is sharing an apartment with a parent this season. Just like Brian Matthews in Toronto, Laine’s mother, Tuija, has taken up residence here to help her son ease his way into the NHL.
“It’s easier that you don’t have to be all alone all the time at home,” Laine said of his living arrangement.
As for what role he performs in the household?
“Just playing hockey and playing video games, basically,” said Laine. “That’s my job.”
Business is good.
While Matthews and his all-rookie line with William Nylander and Zach Hyman struggled at times defensively against the Jets, they were tough to contain at the other end. The No. 1 overall pick had a chance to be the overtime hero but was stopped on a breakaway by Michael Hutchinson just before Laine’s winner.
The Jets goalie hinted that some advance scouting helped him close the five-hole on that play.
“We had a couple guys play with him in the World Cup,” said Hutchinson.
You’ll be able to watch a lot of hockey games in the months ahead before seeing something like this again.
In fact, you may have to wait until Winnipeg visits the Air Canada Centre on Feb. 21 to get a collection of rookies this enticing back on the same ice sheet together. On Wednesday, the smartest bet going had to be that the next Calder Trophy winner was in the building.
You had 12 young men here eligible for rookie of the year voting. There’s strength in those kind of numbers.
We’ve still got an awful long way to go, but Matthews and Laine have already made a strong statement of intent.
“Two great, great young players that are going to give their fans reasons to have nights like this,” said Maurice. “We’ve just seen brilliance from both of them over the first four games of the season.”
If you can believe it, their career experience adds up to seven total NHL games – four for Laine, three for Matthews.
Just imagine what’s still to come.
