LDN - Sports

Rookie Laine notches hat trick, Jets shred Stars

[November 09, 2016] WINNIPEG -- Remember when Auston Matthews was the runaway favorite to win the Calder Trophy after the first game of the season?

That was cute.

The Toronto Maple Leafs rookie center scored four goals in his first NHL game but since, Patrik Laine of the Winnipeg Jets has quietly established himself not only as the leading rookie, but is also leading the league in goals with 11.

The Finnish phenom scored his second hat trick of the season, propelling the Jets to an impressive -- and scrappy -- 8-2 victory over the Dallas Stars at the MTS Centre. The Jets are 6-7-1; the Stars 4-6-3.

"It's always unbelievable to score,'' Laine said. "I'm proud of myself and I'm proud of our team. I don't want to think about the future (but) it's amazing to lead the league on the scoreboard."

When told that he was scoring at the same pace as his idol -- fellow Finn Teemu Selanne, who potted 11 goals in his first 14 games during his record-setting season of 1992-93 -- he blushed. Selanne shattered the rookie scoring record that year with the original Winnipeg Jets when he scored 76 goals.

"I hope I can do the same as him but it's pretty hard,'' Laine said. "It's nice to see I'm on a good pace now. I just want to be humble, play my game and show my teammates and coaching staff that I can be here and play well."

Almost lost in the hoopla surrounding Laine -- the swarm of media around his locker following the game forced neighbor Chris Thorburn to duck underneath several television cameras just to get undressed -- was his center Mark Scheifele's four-point night, which propelled him into the league scoring lead with 18 points.

"It's been a dream of mine,'' Laine said. "It's pretty cool but there is still a lot of the season left and there are a lot of good players (in the league). Hopefully, I can stay in the mix. It's pretty humbling. I still have parts of my game that I can improve."

When told Edmonton's Connor MacDavid had scored three assists Tuesday night to sit one point behind him at 17, Scheifele smiled and said: "maybe I'll send him a text and say, 'tough bounce.'"

Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck kicked out 28 shots in posting the win. Each team took 30 shots.

Jets coach Paul Maurice was only too happy to answer questions about having both the NHL's leading goal scorer and scoring leader on his team.

"I'm excited for the good payoff for Mark because center ice means you have to do so much more,'' Maurice said. "Patrik, his first four days (at training camp) he hit all the posts and he was frustrated. And then the next four days of practice I've never seen a guy score that many goals in practice.

"And you can feel it in the crowd when he gets the puck from anywhere. You can feel the anticipation of the shot and everybody on our bench has that exact same anticipation when he's shooting the puck. He might beat the guy from there."

The Jets opened the scoring early in the first period when the trio of Nikolaj Ehlers, Laine and Scheifele broke out of their own zone on a 3-on-1. Ehlers led the rush down the right side, and with everybody in the building expecting him to pass to the Finnish sniper -- Laine had his stick cocked from the Stars' blue line in -- Ehlers whipped a pass across to Scheifele and his center snapped his eighth behind Kari Lehtonen at 3:06.

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Jets right wing Patrik Laine (29) celebrates his goal against the Dallas Stars for his second goal of the game during the second period at MTS Centre. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Fedyck-USA TODAY Sports

The tone was set for the game moments later when Stars right winger Brett Ritchie elbowed Jets defenseman Toby Enstrom in the face. Jets center Adam Lowry stepped in to defend his teammate and fought Ritchie in the first of several bouts of the evening.

Laine doubled the lead before the opening period was half over. Following some good stick work in the corner to Lehtonen's right, he skated into the slot and deflected a point shot from Ben Chiarot into the net at 8:46.

He completed the natural hat trick and blew the roof off the building when he converted a goal-mouth pass from Scheifele for his 11th goal at 10:07 of the second period.

Left wingers Marko Dano and Andrew Copp and center Adam Lowry also scored for the Jets.

Stars coach Lindy Ruff had seen enough at that point and pulled Lehtonen in favor of Antti Niemi. Lehtonen stopped just seven of the 11 shots he faced.

Stars center Tyler Seguin, who scored his team's second goal in garbage time, called the loss "embarrassing." Right winger Patrick Eaves scored the Stars only other goal.

"We made some really dumb mistakes that we paid dearly for,'' Ruff said. "Some missed assignments that every play turned into a big play for them. It's hard. We're too shorthanded (with injuries) to be a dumb team and we were a dumb team tonight.''

NOTES: Jets D Jacob Trouba, who ended his holdout Monday when he signed a two-year, $6 million contract, was not in the lineup. He has been on the ice only once with his teammates -- Tuesday's morning skate. ... Joining him in the press box are D Mark Stuart and C Mathieu Perreault. ... Scratches for the Stars are C Jason Spezza, C Justin Dowling and D Jamie Oleksiak. ... The Stars opened up a five-game road trip with a 4-3 overtime loss in Chicago on Sunday. ... The Jets are outscoring their opponents 23-10 in the third periods and overtime. On the flipside, they were outscored 21-5 in the second period, the worst ratio in the league prior to Tuesday before outscoring Dallas 4-1. ... Stars D Johnny Oduya spent part of the 2011-12 season in Winnipeg.

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