Patrick Laine. Clearly, the talk of the week is Montreal’s Patrik Laine, who nailed his 11th career hat trick early Wednesday morning against Buffalo Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen behind.
Laine’s condition and striking ability were a complete mystery a month ago, but the Tampere native has had a dream start in Montreal: 7 matches, 6 goals. All by force.
At the same time, speculations about the national teams’ top tournament selection can be put to an end – it was done a long time ago.
Finland will get Lainei, a specialist in the overpowering game, the likes of which do not grow on trees.
– This was hoped for. We were a little tickled by the idea that he’s a straight-laced guy who loves the attention he gets in a city like Montreal. When all the talk is about him and all the cameras and microphones are towards him, he is able to squeeze out incredible things, ‘s hockey expert Ismo Lehkonen anneal.
Lehkonen also appreciated Laine’s self-critical reflection after the hat trick. Laine scored the first of his goals with a one-man advantage and the next two with a two-man advantage.
– He raised his flipper quite high, stating that he has played a million better games. Laine is not a gamer, but understands the rules of hockey very well. I appreciate.
– Now we wait with excitement for Christmas social media updates from Laine’s mistress, what the clothes are like and what kind of Finnish Christmas treats are on the table there.
Who surprised?
Ottawa Senators on the playoff line! Can this be real? Has the NHL’s long-term disgrace grown into a credible team? The last few weeks have given strong indications in this direction.
by Travis Green piloted by the Senators, they have won no fewer than eight of their eleven previous matches.
Of course, it beat only one of the teams on the playoff line during the period, Carolina. Ottawa has long been part of the NHL’s perennial loser group, along with Buffalo and Detroit. Is Ottawa still leaving their friends rotting in the basements of the NHL?
– Coaching has cleaned up certain nonsense from there, and it was Linus Ullmark’s getting to the finish line such a bet that one alibi was immediately removed from there. The body language of that team now suggests that we will go to the playoffs anyway. Ottawa has paid hard tuition fees in previous years, but now it looks good.
Is the bet enough to finish?
– For me, Ottawa has become the black horse of the East. I say that now we go to the playoffs, Lehkonen bangs out.
Who cheated?
It wipes well in Toronto. The Maple Leafs are at the top of the Atlantic division even ahead of Florida. The goalkeeping game has worked excellently, shamed Mitch Marner played hockey all his life and the whole thing worked flawlessly.
But how is it by Auston Matthews today’s condition?
There is no reason to flog Matthews, but at the same time, an average of less than a point per game is a modest reading for the American star. 10 goals in 23 matches is also a pace that would be good for many, but really modest for Matthews, who scored 69 hits in the previous season.
The power statistics reading of the previous 7 matches is also modestly recorded -8.
Matthews’ shooting numbers are on par with previous years, but his shooting percentage (10) is six points below his career average. The Yankee cannon, who also suffered from an injury in the fall, has made 10 hits out of 13.6 goals.
– I suspect that there is some mystery dent somewhere. He went to show his injury somewhere in Switzerland. It may be that it is still being trampled on, Lehkonen thinks.
Also the new head coach who approaches the game strongly through defense Craig Beruben according to Lehkonen, the changes made to the way of playing can be seen in Matthews’ playing.
– He is still getting used to the new way of playing. No one is allowed to run away there. Even Matthew now plays a much more confident game all the time, as if from within the game. He makes riskier choices now. It affects the powers.
Finnish goal of the week
Kiiming’s man Niko Mikkola played a great week. The four matches that included strong defense also included two goals and three points. Lehkonen is in awe of Mikkola’s level.
– He became a real Navy Seal soldier in Miami. It has a dude who is in the opponent’s face all the time and otherwise doesn’t break. A Finnish siloposki who doesn’t even grow a beard. Plays at a really high level and has even started to tighten up the top defender Aaron Ekbladia there.
What next?
Early on Thursday morning, the player market saw some interesting movement, even from a Finnish perspective, when the New York Rangers, who had drifted into disaster mode, traded Kaapo Kako A defender in exchange for Seattle to Will Borgen and for the booking shifts of the third and sixth rounds.
The Kuhina market is also something that Lehkonen is keeping an eye on next week. Lehkonen once again points out the situations of Buffalo and Nashville, which have drifted into nightmarish situations.
– The season is starting to end for those groups, so the kiosk is open. There are some pretty damn good players on the kiosk shelf there. Somewhere in Buffalo, the center forward has started to be blamed Dylan Cozens of everything. It’s just funny how guys who leave Buffalo become Stanley Cup winners elsewhere, Lehkonen laughs.
Cozens’ name has been mentioned in the rumours, but Lehkonen believes in other possibilities as well.
– Buffalo has it Henri Jokiharjua, Alex Tuchia, Tage Thompson and what else. It is certain that after such a plunge, something will start to happen there. Something needs to be done. The same goes for Nashville.
At the end, Lehkonen throws a surprising spiral ball completely off topic.
– Follow Anaheim. By the way, it’s a tough way of playing and the team is starting to be a group of big boys. From there, we will start from the bottom up, Lehkonen points out.