He's back.
For just the 10th time this season, Patrik Laine suited up for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Making up for the lost time, he sure didn't take long to do what he does best.
After missing seven games with a sprained ankle, Laine stormed his way back into the box score in a big way during Friday's 4-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre, his old stomping grounds, making his thunderous comeback in the form of two goals—his third and fourth of the season—and second star of the night honors.
It took no time for him to feel good and get his team on the scoreboard when he ripped his first goal at 6:48 of the first period.
PAT IS BACK. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/LUjyMdKFgF
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) December 3, 2022
But wait, there's more.
His second goal at 3:19 of the second period gave Columbus a 3-0 lead. The whole sequence, spearheaded by Johnny Gaudreau, deserves its own article. Dan Dukart touched on the offensive brilliance of Gaudreau and what makes him tick.
Two goals for Laine. Jenner with an insane feed for the goal. Gaudreau gets his second assist. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/3pR0OM80Um
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) December 3, 2022
As the video above illustrates, you can see how the Blue Jackets went coast-to-coast thanks to Gaudreau driving the play, who found Boone Jenner to move the puck into the slot, before he dished to Laine for the finish.
Jenner's assist on the play was his 300th career point, and he's the fifth Blue Jacket to reach that plateau. His two assists in Sunday's 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings have him up to 302. David Vyborny (317) is fourth and Nick Foligno (334) is third.
"Awesome plays," Laine said about the goals following Friday's win. "I just had to put it in. That's all I had to do. The second goal, especially the one-man breakout unit (Gaudreau), just brought it to the other end and gave it to (Jenner).
"I actually thought (Jenner) was going to go top cheese with his backhand but he decided to find me. Awesome pass so it was easy to finish."
Laine has scored a goal against every team in the league except for Columbus (one assist in eight games). That's just fine for the Blue Jackets, who hope to see many more goals in the opposing net from Laine. The display we saw on Friday by the Gaudreau - Jenner - Laine trio is what we all envisioned heading into the season, as the Blue Jackets have had to cope without Laine long enough following separate injuries this season.
Gaudreau was the first star of Friday's game with a three-assist night. With an assist on Sunday, he is on a four-game point streak (one goal, seven assists) following three straight multi-point efforts. Gaudreau has three three-point games and seven multi-point games this season as he leads the team with 18 assists and 26 points.
Since Jan. 1, Gaudreau is tied with Connor McDavid and Artemi Panarin with 72 assists which leads the NHL. He's registering 1.13 points per game which lead the team.
Jenner leads the team with nine goals and is second with 18 points, putting up 0.78 points per game, which is second on the club. After being a point-per-game player for the first time in his career last season, Laine is at 0.60 ppg, but that might increase now that he's back in action.
The first line of Gaudreau - Jenner - Laine has only played in 10 games together, combining for six goals, but you see the offensive exploits when the three are together.
| Gaudreau - Jenner - Laine | GP | TOI | GF | GA | xGF | xGA |
| 5v5 | 10 | 102:22 | 6 | 5 | 4.94 | 4.11 |
| Natural Stat Trick |
Another player creating a lot of fanfare is Kent Johnson.
Johnson has really turned a corner as he now has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) this season. He had an assist in Friday's win and scored a goal in the loss on Sunday after swapping lines with Laine in the third period. Gaudreau's assist on Johnson's goal was another highlight reel play to get the puck to No. 91 for the finish.
Years of this to look forward to. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/5aBlXykBym
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) December 5, 2022
Since Nov. 15, Johnson has seven points (three goals, four assists) in nine games, and he has only been held pointless in three games over that span. He had his first multi-point game (one goal, one assist) on Nov. 25 in the 3-2 loss to the New York Islanders.
Among rookies, Johnson is eighth in points (13), fourth in goals (six), and 13th in assists (seven), and he's seventh in points-per-game (0.65), which places him third on the team after Gaudreau and Jenner. Johnson and Jenner are second and third in terms of total points per 60 (all situations) as Ed Francis points out in his deep dive of Johnson's season.
Tuesday, the #CBJ seek their first win in Pittsburgh since November 2015 a span of 2,580 days. It was John Tortorellas first month on the job. Fedor Tyutin played 18 minutes in that game, Rene Bourque 12, and Jared Bell just over five minutes.
— CBJ Stats (@BlueJacketStats) December 6, 2022
So, its been a while.
The Blue Jackets are off to Pittsburgh for tonight's meeting with the Penguins. Columbus will need these four to get on the scoreboard to have a chance to nab their first win against Mike Sulllivan's boys since 2019-20.
