In the Toronto Maple Leafs' first meeting with Patrik Laine, the number two overall pick was enemy number one.

The Winnipeg Jets’ 18-year-old star registered the first hat trick of his career on Wednesday, in a game the Maple Leafs led 4-0 in the second period. Laine scored twice in the third frame, the second coming with 54 seconds left to force overtime. He went on to tally the game-winner in OT, completing the hat trick in just 21:40.

It had been nearly four calendar years since Toronto won a game in Winnipeg, when only six players from the current active roster were part of the team. The new-look Leafs had a chance to end the drought when Toronto’s number one pick in the draft - Auston Matthews - had the game on his stick on a breakaway in the extra frame but was stoned by Michael Hutchinson.

Laine made no mistake at the other end, sending his patented wrister past Frederik Andersen to down the Maple Leafs 5-4. The loss moves Toronto to 1-0-2 on the season.

For the third straight game, the Maple Leafs got off to a good start and opened the scoring, jumping out to a 2-0 lead. Over the club’s first two games, the Maple Leafs received heavy contributions from their touted young players while the veterans lagged a beat behind. The refrain among the older guard in recent days had been that they could be a lot better. Nazem Kadri, who led the Maple Leafs in points last season, had failed to register one so far. He would have two goals by the end of the night.

A focal point in practice after Saturday night’s game had been on the team’s power play, and its lack of success since the preseason. At Wednesday’s morning skate, coach Mike Babcock even tried putting two defenders and three forwards on a unit, straying from his usual one defender and four forwards. At 0-for-8, Babcock had called the power play a “momentum drainer.” Rookie William Nylander finally changed that against the Jets, pocketing the first power play goal of the season for the Maple Leafs on their 10th power play, with an assist from Matthews. Toronto was one of three teams that hadn’t scored on the power play going into Wednesday night.

Eight seconds later, Kadri grabbed his second goal of the night, also on the power play. That put Toronto at 2-for-2 with the extra man. Kadri had previously scored in the first period off an end-boards feed from Morgan Rielly.

But despite entering the third period up 4-1, and seemingly firing on all cylinders, Toronto’s response to adversity was less than what it needed to be. Laine and Mark Scheifele scored within 5:05 of each other, putting Toronto on its heels. Rather than let the Jets come to them, Toronto continued to roll all four lines and try to attack by forcing turnovers. A late penalty to Rielly for hauling down Scheifele gave the Jets a man-advantage with less than a minute to go. When Connor Carrick failed to clear the zone, Laine made them pay within seconds.

As much as the tilt was billed as Matthews vs. Laine, it was ultimately a contest between two young teams who were trying to find their rhythm. On this night, the Maple Leafs were a little too out of synch when they needed to be most.


Takeaways

  • Toronto's last win in Winnipeg came on February 7, 2013. Tyler Bozak, Kadri, Jake Gardiner, Rielly, Peter Holland and James van Riemsdyk are the current Leafs who were part of that tilt.
  • Despite tallying only one point, Matthews led Toronto with seven shots on goal.
  • A team’s goaltender often has to be their best penalty killer and Andersen was that in Winnipeg. He made a tremendous sequence of saves in the second period against the Jets power play unit to keep the game 4-0. The Maple Leafs’ penalty kill finished the night 1-for-3, putting them at 10-for-12 on the season. Andersen played well for much of Wednesday’s game, but struggled in the third, finishing with 29 of 34 saves. He said on Saturday he felt his confidence building, but playing in front of a young team that’s less experienced than he’s used to will continue to be an adjustment.
  • After grabbing the lone assist on Kadri’s first goal, Rielly has tallied a point in each of his last three games. That’s the longest point streak of the 22-year-old defender’s career. Rielly has paced the Maple Leafs’ skaters in ice time so far this season, average over 23 minutes a night. Usually head coach Mike Babcock uses him heavily in all situations except the power play, but Rielly was also a point-man for the team during the 5-on-3 power play in the second period.
  • Toronto is at its best when playing aggressively, but the challenge is to corral that energy and not let it run wild. Too often there’s an effort to make a pretty play that ends up putting the puck on the other team’s stick, and that was the case particularly in the third period. Allowing Winnipeg to climb back into the game is another sign of youth, and youthful mistakes.
  • Holland has steadily improved as the season has gotten underway, and played a hard game on Wednesday. He won 50 per cent of his faceoffs, after winning 61 per cent going into the contest. His efforts in the offensive and neutral zone were especially impactful against the Jets. Holland generated a near-breakaway attempt that was thwarted by Hutchinson and a mid-air interception in the second period that set up a scoring opportunity for Toronto. He’s shown improvement in each game so far.