Patrik Laine collected the first star and got a hat trick and yet, that’s not what he remembers from the match and evaluates himself rather harshly.
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“My shots were OK, I was able to find holes, but it was a pretty average match,” he said in the locker room. If you take away the goals, I’ve played games a million times better than this one in which I didn’t score a single goal.”
It wasn’t the first time he got a hat trick on goals all scored on the power play, it already happened to him in Winnipeg a few years ago. But apart from these moments of rejoicing, he evaluated himself harshly.
“Things went well on the power play, but otherwise I would say it was a pretty average game.”
Five against five
Laine and his line partners, Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach, were the only Canadiens players to finish the game with a negative differential (-1), which perhaps explains his lukewarm evaluation.
But Martin St-Louis was more nuanced than the hero of the evening who tends to be hard on himself.
“He’s honest, but I didn’t hate him at five-on-five, I don’t think he played a bad game. His pace is improving, Newy is helping him with the pace.”
Laine’s three goals were scored in much the same way, with good puck movement allowing him to break free in the right faceoff circle where he fired a powerful one-timer into the far corner .
“If I had this shot, I would shoot pucks like him, but I don’t have it so I have to score from behind the goal,” joked Juraj Slafkovsky, making fun of his third goal of the season which gave a lead 3 to 1 to the Canadian in the second period.
Other option
The arrival of Laine gave new impetus to the numerical advantage, whose efficiency rate is 26.1% since the Finn returned to the game. The five-man attack was operating at a rate of 20.8 % before that.
“It’s certain that he’s a player with a very special throw, he’s very dangerous,” Matheson said. It’s also good to have other options so the other team isn’t right next to him for the entire power play.”
Except that Laine has installed himself in what was formerly Cole Caufield’s office on the power play, the little American having taken his place in the other circle. He also provided an assist on Laine’s third goal.
“They learn to play together and it’s something that happens organically,” said Martin St-Louis. You can give them guidance, but you have to be careful not to direct them too much.”
Relief
The atmosphere in the Canadian’s locker room contrasted with that which reigned after the last home outing, a 9-2 drubbing against the Pittsburgh Penguins last Thursday.
“It’s not fun being on the other side of this kind of match, it’s good to have the chance to experience a match as complete as that,” said Mike Matheson.
So there was some relief after putting on a much better show for the fans, but Matheson says the team didn’t put the pressure on themselves to deliver a performance to send a message.
“If you start to think that this is a game where you have to send a message, it’s different than just knowing that every game you have to be at your best,” said Matheson, who attempted nine shots, the highest total for the Canadian.
Watch Laine’s press briefing in full in the video above.
