What happened to Laine’s goal-scoring?

[RorschachWJK]

20+ easy. Not all finns, few converted "jets fans". The finns are still here but w AM34 in the Rocket race and dominating the local hero they are slightly muted. A certain Dad is still around just posting under a name similar to empathy.

Yeah...no. More like 2 people.

 

[RorschachWJK]

We are talking a 2 year span of time, it fluctuated, but of the Laine supporters who were conspiracy theory level of nutty it was probably around 10.

No. At that level maybe 2-3 people. Come on...we're talking daver-level here.

 

[FrailSwan]

If all 82 games were against Dallas he’d break the scoring record.

 

[koyvoo]

Another goal, his 24th of the season and 9 goals in past 9 games.

 

[Lukin1978]

He's back

 

[rubikscube]

Another goal, his 24th of the season and 9 goals in past 9 games.

I mean it was an empty netter so let's chill a little bit, but I'm happy he's back on track!

 

[Andy6]

Laine's skill at scoring empty-net goals from a long way out actually wins us games. It's one of the more underrated talents in hockey. This has been an interesting season. It's as though he left his goal scoring ability in his locker while he took a crash course on the rest of the game, and now that he's finished that, he's back to scoring again.

 

[Channelcat]

I mean it was an empty netter so let's chill a little bit, but I'm happy he's back on track!

Impressive empty netter though, you see his strengths which are his strength and reach (also shot of course)

 

[tntkid]

God mode Laine is back.

 

[Agent Zub]

wonder what is upside is when he fills out and gets more coordinated with his size.

such a great player and the gains he's making in his overall game are a great sign.

In the Ottawa game he had the best backcheck of all the jets players.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Does anyone still take Tkachuk over Laine in a redraft? Laine seems to be developing his all around game more than Matthews.

 

[The Panther]

Not a Laine watcher particularly, but it seems to me his issue offensively is consistency. Wasn't there a thing last season where he scored about 10 goals in 5 games, and then 1 in the next 25 or something?

What I've noticed recently is that he's become more balanced offensively, as in he gets a lot of assists as well as goals. Thus, his goal totals won't be as gaudy as some expected a couple of years ago, but this is a good thing. A player that is fairly elite at both goal-scoring and playmaking is more valuable than a player who is very elite at only one of those.

 

[FinPanda]

Laine has entered the beast mode and no one can stop him.

 

[The Panther]

Laine has entered the beast mode and no one can stop him.

Yeah, but that's what everybody said last year before he scored about 1 goal in 25 games.

 

[FinPanda]

Yeah, but that's what everybody said last year before he scored about 1 goal in 25 games.

Forgot the sarcasm.

 

[kthx]

Isn't he a better player all-around than 2 years ago?

 

[Mulletman]

Not a Laine watcher particularly, but it seems to me his issue offensively is consistency. Wasn't there a thing last season where he scored about 10 goals in 5 games, and then 1 in the next 25 or something?

You might've missed it but Laine went on a historic run in November 2018 were he scored 18 goals. That's something that had only been done by Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy before Laine did it too. But even after that Laine couldn't get 1st line minutes from Paul Maurice...

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

Reminds me of the Neal thread wondering if he was going to hit 20 goals or not.

 

[LaMasquerade]

After last season he admitted that he had had back problems most of the season, and also groin issues during the latter half (even forcing him to skip morning ice / practice sessions). This year his playing has looked more balanced, his skating much better, and there's been more physical aspect (hits, some roughing) to his game too, so maybe he's putting the back problems behind (pun intended) him.. And when you get your game in order, the goals/points will soon follow, as we're seeing.

 

[ovythegiraffe]

Not a Laine watcher particularly, but it seems to me his issue offensively is consistency. Wasn't there a thing last season where he scored about 10 goals in 5 games, and then 1 in the next 25 or something?

What I've noticed recently is that he's become more balanced offensively, as in he gets a lot of assists as well as goals. Thus, his goal totals won't be as gaudy as some expected a couple of years ago, but this is a good thing. A player that is fairly elite at both goal-scoring and playmaking is more valuable than a player who is very elite at only one of those.

Had 18 in 12 games and then 9 in the next 58 which might be one of the most inconsistent seasons ever, but 17-18 he had 44 goals, while having only one hat trick and 5 two goal games which is pretty consistent.

One of the big improvements has been how he handles the puck under pressure. Last game he did a good play in pretty much all 1v1 situations (clearing from the d zone, giving a good pass in the n zone, keeping it in the o zone) while last year he would've turned the puck over on most of those.

 

[Necrobutcher]

BTW he has the best +/- on the Jets with +11. His linemates are both +2 and Blake Wheeler is -9 for example. Not saying it matters a lot but still tells us something about how much he has stepped up after the poor season he had last year.

 

[FinPanda]

Isn't he a better player all-around than 2 years ago?

He has played the best all around game he ever has. So definitely.

 

[Guffman]

Isn't he a better player all-around than 2 years ago?

Yes. He used to be a huge defensive liability, which limited his ice time opportunities. I am very pleased with his game this year.

 

[Ippenator]

I mean it was an empty netter so let's chill a little bit, but I'm happy he's back on track!

Interesting logic. 9 goals in last 9 games and you put it down with a comment like that? So I guess 1 empty netter nullifies the value of the 8 ”normal” goals?

I guess by this logic the league leading empty net scorer, poor Sebastian Aho with 6 empty netters, has in reality scored a negative amount of goals with his ”real” total as -18 goals instead of the 30 officially registered goals. But I guess I learned a new way to value (or devalue) scored goals...

 

[olli]

His goals corking is very inconsistent but his overall game has been much more consistent all year.