A Winning Habit
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The Montreal Canadiens should try to acquire Patrik Laine via trade

By Omar L

WINNIPEG, MB - APRIL 12: Patrik Laine #29 of the Winnipeg Jets celebrates his second period goal against the St. Louis Blues in Game Two of the Western Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell MTS Place on April 12, 2019 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Darcy Finley/NHLI via Getty Images)
WINNIPEG, MB - APRIL 12: Patrik Laine #29 of the Winnipeg Jets celebrates his second period goal against the St. Louis Blues in Game Two of the Western Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell MTS Place on April 12, 2019 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Darcy Finley/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Montreal Canadiens
WINNIPEG, MB – APRIL 10: Patrik Laine Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Darcy Finley/NHLI via Getty Images) /

What’s always plagued Laine is his consistency, and what happened this year is a prime example. Laine had several four and five-game stretches without a single point including the final six games of the regular season heading into the playoffs.

It gets even more oddly interesting when looking his monthly scoring.

  • October – 3 goals and 2 assists
  • November – 18 goals and 1 assist
  • December – 3 goals and 4 assists
  • January – 1 goal and 2 assists
  • February – 4 goals and 4 assists
  • March – 1 goal and 7 assists
  • April – 0 goals and 0 assists

Don’t put too much stock in April considering the Winnipeg Jets only had four regular season games then. However, the other months in comparison to November is mind-boggling.

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Laine had a very slow start to the first 12 games of the season. The calendar flipped to November, and on the 1st of the month, he lit up the Florida Panthers with a hat-trick. He had another one six games later against the Vancouver Canucks and a five-goal night in St. Louis. That whole stretch, starting with the Canuck blow out, gave Laine 11 goals in four games.

Then the calendar flipped to December and Laine went cold again. After scoring two goals against Chicago on November 29th, Laine didn’t put another puck in the net until December 13th when the Jets welcomed the Edmonton Oilers to their arena.

The up and down levels of production would steer many away, but he did still finish with 30 goals. What the league saw from Laine in November is his true potential, and I have no issue in saying the other six months are outliers despite being 85% of the season.

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