Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers were back on the same line at even strength last night when the Jets hosted the Flames in preseason action, and the talented young duo immediately found the chemistry they had last season when each recorded 64 points.
Asked afterwards about why he clicks so easily with Ehlers, Laine displayed his quick wit.
"I don't know, we're both from Europe, we're both young and we both like PlayStation," the 19-year-old Laine said through a thin smile.
Of course, what the young Fin left out is that he and Ehlers, the 21-year-old from Denmark, are both extremely high-skilled wingers, who think and play the game at a level few can relate to. Their teamwork was on display Monday with Laine setting up Ehlers for a 5-on-5 goal in the second period of a 5-2 victory. Ehlers missed out on a second goal when he failed to score on a breakaway.
"Last year he didn't score a lot of goals on the breakaway, and a lot of guys were chirping him (Monday)," Laine said as a way of explaining why he didn't give his buddy a good-natured earful after the missed opportunity.
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Ehlers did score 25 goals last season, fourth-best on the team. Laine recorded a a team-high 36 goals, center Mark Scheifele had 32 and captain Blake Wheeler potted 26. On Monday, Scheifele centered Wheeler and rookie Kyle Connor, while Laine and Ehlers skated with Nic Petan. However, when the puck drops on the regular season, look for Scheifele, the league's seventh-leading scorer with 82 points last year, to slot right back in between the two young guns.
Laine and Scheifele actually worked more magic together than apart Monday against the Flames. Winnipeg scored four power play goals and both Laine and Scheifele recorded points on all four. Laine finished the game with five points (2-3-5), more than he scored in any regular-season game during his wondrous rookie campaign a year ago. Scheifele earned four points (1-3-4) as the Jets won their first game of the preseason (1-3-1).
"It's nice scoring," offered Scheifele, in full understatement mode.
As for the power play success -- the Jets now have nine man-up goals in the preseason, Scheifele said, "Obviously, it's clicking now, but there are still things we can dial in on, so we can't get too confident."
The Jets had the 18th-ranked power play in the NHL last season despite the plethora of talent they deploy on the PP, so the early preseason success here in September is most definitely welcome.
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"We haven't used a lot of man-hours to practice our power play yet, but we've gone over some of the things we want to see on the power play, and (Monday, especially), we saw those things on the ice," explained Laine. "The big thing is that we have a lot of options, not just one option, out there."
Laine pointed out that Wheeler helps set things in motion by playing on his off wing, while he, Scheifele and Dustin Byfuglien are known for their quick releases and one-timers.
It also helps when the Jets play at a fast pace, both on the power play and at even strength. Certainly, Monday night they did just that, heeding the captain's pre-game words.
"It's time to flip the switch," Wheeler told his teammates.
Consider the switch flipped. Laine and Co. seem ready for the regular season to start.