Patrik Laine Came Home And Scored A Hat Trick

Winnipeg Jets wonderkid Patrik Laine has had a bit of a slow start to his third NHL season, earning just five points in his first 12 games and going scoreless in his last five. But a return to his home country of Finland, for a game this afternoon against the Panthers, seems to have jump-started the young sniper.

In the very, very white equivalent to Frankie Lindor’s dinger in Puerto Rico earlier this year, Laine went off for a hat trick in Winnipeg’s 4-2 victory in Helsinki. Hatrik Laine broke a 1-1 tie in the second and then a 2-2 tie in the third, with both goals coming on the powerplay in the form of those vintage Ovechkin-esque bullets from the top of the circle that have made Laine famous.

And sure, the last was an empty-netter, but it just felt good! And I don’t think any other Jet would have received a standing ovation just for sending the puck the length of the ice.

Laine has a chance for an encore performance in part two of this Finland series Friday afternoon.