The Winnipeg Jets had a really tough game in Calgary, and they went up 2-0 on Minnesota before allowing three goals (and an empty netter) in the third period. Last night didn’t erase that, but it sure as hell gave us something else to talk about.
The Winnipeg Jets couldn’t face going 1-3 on that road trip. It would’ve been really, really not great. Going 2-2 doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. And yes, the Blues and Canucks are bad.
But the Wild and Flames are not, and the Jets didn’t look like they could hold their own against either. I know Connor Hellebuyck‘s numbers were fine against Minnesota, but allowing three goals in the third isn’t what I’d consider good, especially when your team is up 2-0 going in.
But our hero, Patrik Laine went far beyond Hatrik Laine. The whole road trip, really. Laine scored in all four games, totaling ELEVEN goals. Patrik Laine is on a 71 goal pace (!!!!!).
The last player to surpass 70 goals in a season? Teemu Selanne, the original Finnish Flash. What a world. Only 8 players have accomplished the feat, and that list includes names such as Bobby Hull, Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky, Brett Hull, Selanne. It’s an exclusive list, and it hasn’t been done since 92-93.
I’m not saying Laine will do so, but it’s fun to wonder. He, of course, leads the league in goals, sitting one ahead of Jeff Skinner, someone I suggested Winnipeg try to acquire before the year.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, but it’s great to see this from Laine. By the way, he now has 99 career goals, and he’s just 20. I’m 27 and I have zero NHL goals. I’ve got a long road to climb, guys.
Oh, and for the colleagues who said Laine was a powerplay specialist and nothing more, he now has 10 even strength goals to go with his nine powerplay tallies. Four of last nights were at 5-on-5.
As for the rest of the game? Well, you know I can’t get far without mentioning Laurent Brossoit. He actually wasn’t great, stopping 23 of 27 shots by the Blues, but two were garbage time goals.
The first two were troubling, but the Jets entered the second frame with the score tied at 2. Not ideal, coming off of two losses and facing an underwhelming Blues team.
Patrik Laine then had a hat trick in the second period, sandwiched around a goal by Brandon Tanev. Jets up 6-2. Also, if you push it to his last three goals, it’s a natural hatty. Yay?
Four of Laine’s goals were assisted by Bryan Little and Kyle Connor, who (duh) both had four point games. The list of Jets with points is fun: Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Dustin Byfuglien, Jacob Trouba, Brendan Lemieux, Brandon Tanev, Bryan Little, Kyle Connor, Nic Petan, Jack Roslovic, Mathieu Perreault and Josh Morrissey.
The only skaters without a point were Nikolaj Ehlers, Joseph Morrow, Tyler Myers (who did have a fighting major that was fun to watch), Ben Chiarot and Adam Lowry. Twenty four points for the team. Wow.
These are games that are so fun to watch, those crazy blowouts where everyone had a wild game. The Jets were doing fine with lines 1, 3 and 4. The second line had 5 goals and 13 points. Gotta love it.
The Jets are still falling behind in the division, at 28 points. The Avalanche and Wild have 30, and Nashville has 33. There’s still time. And with Patrik Laine tearing the league apart now that he’s no longer a teenager (he did a pretty good job then, too), the Jets can catch anybody.