laine

Patrik Laine is giving a whole new dimension to the term sharpshooter.
Laine tied Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals for the NHL lead when he scored his 40th of the season in the Winnipeg Jets' 2-1 loss at the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. With 14 games remaining, the second-year forward has already surpassed the 36 goals he scored in his rookie season. Laine has scored nine times during a five-game goal-scoring streak and has 15 in his past 11 games.

What's most remarkable is the economy of shots that Laine has needed to fill the net. Beginning with the Jets' game against the Colorado Avalanche on Feb. 16, Laine has 30 shots on goal - and half of them have gone into the net.
For the season, Laine has scored his 40 goals on 196 shots (20.4 percent); for comparison, Ovechkin's 40 goals have come on 290 shots (13.8 percent).

The two will face each other when the Jets come to Capital One Arena on Monday (7 p.m. ET; TVAS, NBCSWA, TSN3, NHL.TV). If history is any indication, Ovechkin could have an advantage: he has four goals in seven games played on Mondays this season; Laine has one goal in five Monday games.
Laine is still 19; he turns 20 on April 19. The goal he scored Saturday was his 76th, tying him for third in NHL history by players before their 20th birthday with Wayne Gretzky and Brian Bellows. He would have to continue his hot streak to reach Dale Hawerchuk (85) for second place; Jimmy Carson's record of 92 still looks safe.

Out of nowhere

Laine's shooting percentage this season is the second-best in the NHL among players who've taken 100 or more shots, but it's not a big jump from his rookie season, when he had a shooting percentage of 17.6 (36 goals on 204 shots). That's not the case with forward William Karlsson of the Vegas Golden Knights, who leads the NHL this season with a 23.5 shooting percentage (35 goals, 149 shots) among all players who've taken at least 75 shots.
Karlsson entered the season with 18 goals on 233 shots, a shooting percentage of 7.7, in 181 games during four seasons with the Anaheim Ducks and Columbus Blue Jackets.

Didn't I just see you?

Jussi Jokinen joined a select club when he was acquired by the Vancouver Canucks from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Feb. 26. The veteran forward is the fourth player to play for four teams in the same season, joining Dennis O'Brien in 1977-78, Dave McLlwain in 1992 and Mark Arcobello in 2014-15. Jokinen played 14 games with the Edmonton Oilers, 18 with the Los Angeles Kings and 14 with the Blue Jackets before coming to Vancouver.
Jokinen had two goals in his first three games with the Canucks, putting him in a select trio with O'Brien and Arcobello as players who've had points with four teams in the same season. He had one goal (with the Kings) in 46 games before coming to Vancouver.
The New York Islanders have seen Jokinen in each of his four uniforms this season. He was with the Edmonton Oilers when they played at Barclays Center on Nov. 7, had joined the Kings by the time they came to Brooklyn on Dec. 16, and played in each of Columbus' two visits to the Islanders in February before facing them on March 5 in Vancouver. His combined offensive total in the five games: one assist (Feb. 3 with Columbus), although his teams are 3-1-1.

Vanek does it again

Jokinen and forward Tyler Motte were traded to Vancouver when the Blue Jackets acquired forward Thomas Vanek before the NHL Trade Deadline. Vanek had 41 points (17 goals, 24 assists) with Vancouver before the trade, and after going scoreless in his first three games with the Blue Jackets, he scored two goals in his first home game with Columbus, a 5-4 overtime win against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.

Vanek had two multiple-goal games with the Canucks, and he's the only player in the NHL this season to score more than once in a game for more than one team. Alexandre Burrows and Patrick Eaves were the only ones to do it last season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
But it's not the first time Vanek has had multigoal games for different teams in the same season. In 2013-14, he had three for the New York Islanders and one after being traded to the Montreal Canadiens (he started that season with the Buffalo Sabres but had no multigoal games before being traded to the Islanders on Oct. 27, 2013).