Game over. Pretty impressive for a 20-year-old defenseman, right?
"It is," said Rasmus Ristolainen, who's been on the ice with Jokiharju to close out the Sabres' last two victories. "I'm taking care of the kid out there."
Ristolainen was only kidding, but he may actually deserve some credit. As a 19-year-old playing in Chicago last season, Jokiharju says he might have allowed an early shift to derail the rest of his game. Putting those shifts behind him quickly has been a big part of his strong start in Buffalo.
That change in mentality has come in part as a result of advice from Ristolainen, his fellow Finnish defenseman.
"He told me that you can't stay on the small things," Jokiharju said. "I think he sees the big picture. He just says to me, 'It's only hockey.' You can tell he's played that role like all the time. I think it's pretty key.
"... You have a bad shift or a bad period, just keep going. I think that's the biggest thing. I think during this season it's been better for me than last year. Last year, I made a mistake, it was pretty much a big thing for me and I would stay on it."
Ristolainen also came into the NHL as a 19-year-old back in 2013-14 and remembers being helped by the other Finnish players in the organization. Back then, the team had Ville Leino at the NHL level and fellow prospect Joel Armia in Rochester.
He's looked to pay it forward with Jokiharju this season.
"It's nice to help him on whatever he needs to get comfortable here. He's a good kid, young, real young. He could be my son," the 25-year-old Ristolainen said, exaggerating his own age. "Good player, really confident, makes plays. He's surprised me a lot."
Jokiharju said upon being traded to Buffalo in the summer that it was his goal to play a full season in the NHL - high expectations for a young player in a crowded defense corps. He's dressed in every game for the Sabres so far, appearing at times on both the power play and the penalty kill.
With Jokiharju on the ice at 5-on-5, the Sabres have outscored opponents 24-17 according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
"He's just somebody, with the puck, who's managing it as well as anybody I've seen and that's one of the reasons his defensive game is responsible and passionate," Sabres coach Ralph Krueger said. "I've said it before, I'll say it again, everybody in the Sabres family needs to be really excited about Henri's future."
If he keeps playing at his current pace, we could see him close out many more games in the future.
"No one gets anything here," Ristolainen said. "You've got to earn every minute. He earned his spot in the lineup, his minutes. He's getting power play, penalty kill lately, at the end. It just shows that he earned the trust from the coach and that he's been playing well."
