Not to stir the pot, and certainly not to place the blame for tonight on Laine because it takes a team effort to s#!t the bed this hard, but do all you Laine fan boys truly believe that the way he has been playing this year is correct? Is the style he seems to have adopted the optimal way to help out the team? Is he just being screwed over by the "perverted" coach who won't play him on the top line (even though apparently the top line is selfish, takes too many penalties, and stays on the ice too long)?
Because if you do believe all that, then you are wrong. Laine's goal total at the end of the year doesn't matter, what matters is the number of team wins. Of course goals help that happen, but when you do all the other things like defence, back-checking, hard fore-checking, and good board work then the goals will come.
Laine has not been good this year. He shows zero flashes of brilliance when stick handling, he constantly loses board battles, he regularly fails to clear the defensive zone, and opposing players constantly blow by him. He needs to get on board and take some lessons from the hard working players in the room. He has an amazing shot, but it takes more than that to be a star.