Laine’s 5-Goal Game vs. Auston Matthews’ 4-Goal Debut

On Saturday night, Patrik Laine accomplished an astounding feat, notching five goals en route to an 8-4 trouncing of the lowly St. Louis Blues. The number two overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft has been on fire this month, with three(!) hat tricks and a total of sixteen goals since November 1st.

We’d be remiss to discuss Laine’s historic performance, however, without bringing up a similar offensive feat from 2016. You may remember that Auston Matthews – picked ahead of Laine in 2016 – became the first player in NHL history to score four goals in his NHL debut.

So here we are, with phenomenal offensive feats from the top two picks in the 2016 draft, both now well into their third seasons in the NHL. The only question left to answer is, who did it better?

Patrik Laine:

Auston Matthews:

Look – I’m no math wiz, but something deep inside me is telling me that five is greater than four. Sure, Auston Matthews may have taken the world by storm with a historic NHL debut, but five goals? That’s Johan Franzen territory! (Franzen accomplished the rarely-seen feat on February 2, 2011).

Patrick Laine was born in 1998. Since 1998, only three players have enjoyed a five-goal performance: Marian Gaborik, Franzen, and Patrik Laine.

Meanwhile, five players (Evander Kane, Patrice Bergeron, Connor McDavid, Alex Ovechkin and Anze Kopitar) all managed four-goal performance last season alone.

Your move, Auston.

Here’s where things get interesting.

How do you quantify a four-goal NHL debut versus a five-goal outing in game 177 of your NHL career? The answer is simple: rule in favor of the one that made history.

On October 12, 2016, Auston Matthews made history by scoring four goals in his NHL debut. If you need a refresher, the video below may help:

Just astounding.

That’s not to say that Laine’s five-goal effort doesn’t bring about the same words and jaw-dropping responses. It absolutely does. But we knew that a player like Laine – already nearing his 200th NHL game – was good for a game like this.

When Matthews debuted, however, he was still largely an unknown. By the end of the night, however, the script had been flipped.

The talk about Alex Ovechkin eventually passing the goalscoring torch to Patrik Laine is anything but overblown. It’s not just a matter of numbers, either. The way the two score goals is almost uncannily similar:

Laine’s one-timer is so similar to Ovi’s that he might as well be paying rent to use his office. And that’s not a knock on Laine at all – quite the opposite, in fact.

The fact that the NHL already has its replacement for one of the most lethal goalscorers of all time in Ovechkin should terrify every single team not based out of Winnipeg. Laine’s got his spot, he’s got his shot, and he’s a force to be reckoned with.

To be fair to Leafs Nation, this one is a beauty, too. But in terms of time in, time out reliability, Laine’s the one you can count on.

In 2016-17, Craig Anderson was a .926 goalie, and the Senators weren’t quite the garbage fire that they are nowadays. That’s a fun little way of saying that they were one goal away from the Stanley Cup Final.

The 2018-19 Blues? An unmitigated disaster. Chad Johnson and Jake Allen – the victims of Laine’s recent onslaught – are carrying a .895 and an .896, respectively.

And besides, even if the goalies weren’t trash – could you imagine playing behind a team that leaves Patrik Laine open like this?

I think that says enough.

Can’t win the game? Can’t win the competition, I guess.

Face it, Leafs Nation: Patrik Laine is off the fourth line, was above Matthews’ four-goal mark, and clearly reigns supreme.