It's not often that a player scores a goal and ends up having a bad game. Well, that was the case for Patrik Laine on Wednesday, when he scored his fourth goal of the season in a 4-2 loss to the Canadiens, dropping the Blue Jackets to 7-13-4 on the season.
#CBJ Laine (29) takes the puck from #GoHabsGo Monahan (91), rushes down the right wing, gets to the doorstep, skates left, shoots right, and scores. #GoHabsGo 0-1 #CBJ https://t.co/Jv80pRENh4
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) November 30, 2023
Laine was critical of his performance after the game, where he was on the ice for three of Montreal's four goals.
Before the clip begins, #CBJ Jiricek (55) fails to clear the zone, and he, Provorov (9), and Fantilli (11) all congregate in the left slot, leaving Newhook (15) wide open at the right circle. Laine (29) also didn't enter the picture until it was way too late. #GoHabsGo 1-1 #CBJ https://t.co/dVxDRXKg7M
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) November 30, 2023
"It was awful," Laine said of his game. "Got that goal, felt pretty good. Then it just went all downhill from there."
"Today was one of those games we should've had."@BlueJacketsNHL forward Patrik Laine lamented the mistakes made and was critical of his play in a 4-2 loss to the Canadiens.#CBJ pic.twitter.com/7szNV9zA7X
— Bally Sports Columbus (@BallySportsCBUS) November 30, 2023
Only two players had less time on ice on Wednesday than Laine's 13:03, and they were his two line-mates, Adam Fantilli and Alexandre Texier. Laine added that when he's not playing a lot, his hands aren't there and the pucks are bouncing. This was the case last night and has been for a while.
Laine is the team's third-highest-paid player at $8.7M AAV. He's proven that he can be an elite goal-scorer in the NHL, having posted 44 goals in 2017-18.
For the Blue Jackets to be consistent winners in this league, they need Laine to be their best goal scorer and one of their best players. He's not even close to either of those right now. Luckily, there are 58 games left in the season for him to turn it around.
As of now, his play is a major concern.
