Rookie Laine notches hat trick, Jets shred Stars
WINNIPEG -- At this rate, Patrik Laine might cover his entire salary with the profits from Winnipeg Jets hat sales.
The Finnish rookie phenom scored his second hat trick of the young season, propelling the Jets to an 8-2 victory over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday at the MTS Centre.
Laine now leads the league in goal scoring with 11. He scored his first hat trick last month in a 5-4 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Mark Scheifele had a four-point night, giving him 18 on the season and propelling him into the NHL scoring lead.
Things got rougher in the third period when Toby Enstrom was hammered into the boards by Dallas center Radek Faksa, who was forced to answer for his actions by Enstrom's defense partner, Tyler Myers. The Jets got the extra penalty on the play and it took just a matter of seconds for Stars center Tyler Seguin to make them pay, scoring his seventh of the season on a wrap-around at 2:32, cutting the Jets' lead to 6-2.
But Winnipeg put the game out of reach -- if it wasn't already -- when left winger Andrew Copp scored shorthanded at 13:49, converting a saucer pass from center Alexander Burmistrov to give his team a 7-2 lead. It was Copp's first goal of the season.
Lowry stuffed home his third of the season off a Copp rebound with less than two minutes to go in the game.
The Jets opened the scoring early in the first period when the trio of Nikolaj Ehlers, Laine and Scheifele broke out of their own zone on a 3-on-1. Ehlers led the rush down the right side, and with everybody in the building expecting him to pass to the Finnish sniper -- Laine had his stick cocked from the Stars' blue line in -- Ehlers whipped a pass across to Scheifele and his center snapped his eighth behind Kari Lehtonen at 3:06.
Laine doubled the lead before the opening period was half over. Following some good stick work in the corner to Lehtonen's right, he skated into the slot and deflected a point shot from Ben Chiarot into the net at 8:46.
The Stars got on the board on the power play early in the second period when right winger Patrick Eaves deflected in a pass from center Devin Shore past Connor Hellebuyck at 1:30.
Laine restored the two-goal lead at 6:51 when he banged in his own rebound on the power play following some aggressive forechecking from Scheifele and right winger Blake Wheeler. It was his 10th of the season.
Laine blew the roof off the building when he converted a goal-mouth pass from Scheifele for his 11th goal, completing his hat trick at 10:07.
Stars coach Lindy Ruff had seen enough at that point and pulled Lehtonen in favor of Antti Niemi. Lehtonen stopped just seven of the 11 shots he faced.
With Laine in the penalty box serving a coincidental roughing penalty -- the Stars received an extra minor on the play, giving the Jets a power play -- left winger Marko Dano stretched the lead to four goals by poking home the puck during a goalmouth scramble at 17:09 of the second.
The onslaught continued as Scheifele ripped home his second of the game with just 39 seconds to go in the period. With Wheeler providing the screen, he converted a pass from Nic Petan for a 5-1 lead. Laine received an assist on the play.
NOTES: Jets D Jacob Trouba, who ended his holdout Monday when he signed a two-year, $6 million contract, was not in the lineup. He has been on the ice only once with his teammates -- Tuesday's morning skate. ... Joining him in the press box are D Mark Stuart and C Mathieu Perreault. ... Scratches for the Stars are C Jason Spezza, C Justin Dowling and D Jamie Oleksiak. ... The Stars opened up a five-game road trip with a 4-3 overtime loss in Chicago on Sunday. ... The Jets are outscoring their opponents 21-9 in the third periods and overtime. On the flipside, they are being outscored 21-5 in the second period, the worst ratio in the league. ... The Jets, after being the most penalized team in the league last year, have spent the fifth-least amount of time in the penalty box this season. ... Stars D Johnny Oduya spent part of the 2011-12 season in Winnipeg.