Our Favorite Jets Goals: “Hat-Trick Laine”

It’s not uncommon for the top two picks in an NHL draft to forever be linked to each other, especially when there is debate to be had leading up to the draft on which player should go first overall. In 1995, the Ottawa Senators had to pick between two standout defensemen in Bryan Berard and Wade Redden. (They actually took Berard, but then less than a year later traded him to the Islanders for Redden) 2010’s draft will always be remembered as “Taylor (Hall) or Tyler (Seguin)” and their careers have often been compared even ten years later.

And in 2016, there was “Matthews vs Laine”

The Toronto Maple Leafs took @Auston Matthews first overall, while the @Winnipeg Jets nabbed @Patrik Laine with the second pick. The picks went down pretty much as everyone expected them to, but there had been some observers who wondered if the Leafs wouldn’t be better served picking the pure sniping ability in Laine had displayed as opposed to the better all-around player Matthews seemed to be. Of course being picked by two Canadian cities only gave the debate more publicity with each fan base standing by their newly picked men. The NHL schedule maker seemed to understand the hype as well as anyone as Maple Leafs vs Jets – the first game between the top two picks – was set for very early in the 2016-17 season, October 19, 2016.

The game itself was a wild ride. The Leafs took a 4-0 lead with two goals in the first period and then two more in the first half of the second period with Matthews picking up an assist on the Leafs third goal of the game. The Jets were a turnover machine for the first half of the game, but got better as the night went along and started the process of chipping away at the 0-4 deficit with a Tyler Myers goal to make it 4-1 after two periods, and then three goals – two of them belonging to Laine – in the third to send the game to overtime.

That set the stage for a dramatic showdown between the top two picks late in the overtime period that if it was written in Hollywood script, would have been laughed off as too corny…

The term “Laine Better” that has floated around social media was by in large never meant as a serious statement, at least not by those who understood Matthews as a better overall player, but rather a jab at overly uptight Maple Leafs fans who had been desperate to root not just for a winning club, but a generational talent. For at least one night early on in the Laine vs Matthews “rivalry” those claims could be taken a little more seriously with a memorable hat trick, game winning goal from Patrik Laine.