Patrik Laine was all business after the Montreal Canadiens took the ice for practice ahead of their first-round matchup against the Washington Capitals.
The 27-year-old winger will make his Habs postseason debut against one of his childhood idols, Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin. However, Laine, at least publicly, is completely unaffected by the prospect of lining up against the NHL’s greatest goal scorer.
“Doesn’t matter,” Laine said Saturday. “Couldn’t care less.”
The Finnish native has gone on record in the past saying that he rooted for the Capitals as a kid and that Ovechkin was his favorite player. He even asked Ovechkin to play video games with him and was happy to be on the ice when Ovechkin scored his 600th career goal.
“Washington, they’ve always been my favorite team when I was growing up,” Laine said in 2018. “It’s always been my dream to play against them.”
The now more grizzled veteran will be back in the playoffs for the first time since 2020, when he played one game for the Winnipeg Jets in the bubble playoffs play-in round before injuring his wrist.
Laine recorded 33 points (20g, 13a) in 52 games for the Canadiens this season. He missed 24 games due to a preseason knee injury and didn’t make his regular-season debut until December. The 20-goal season was the seventh of Laine’s career and his first since potting 22 goals for the Columbus Blue Jackets during the 2022-23 campaign.
While it has been several years since Laine was in the thick of an actual NHL playoff run, he still believes that he has another level to his game he can unlock when the lights are shining brightest.
“Yeah, I’ll turn it up,” Laine said. “I think I’ve always – regular season is a different thing. Playoffs is a different kind of animal, and I always got fired up in playoffs or big games overall, the national team, or whatever. It’s always kind of been the switch for me, so just excited to turn it on Monday.”
Laine has been skating on Montreal’s second line with Alex Newhook and the newest addition to the Habs, top prospect Ivan Demidov. The 19-year-old Russian played just two regular-season games for Montreal, making an instant impact in his debut against the Chicago Blackhawks with two points, including his first NHL goal.
“I think it’s been good,” Laine said. “We had some chances. It’s only been a couple games and obviously important games, so we haven’t played much in the third, which, you know, understandable since we gotta win those games and the more reliable guys are out there. I think the time we’ve been out there – it’s been pretty good. Still trying to build some chemistry, watch video, talk about it, but he’s obviously a hell of a player and just excited to play with him.”
Laine was moved onto Demidov and Newhook’s line late against Chicago last Monday, replacing Joel Armia. In the Canadiens’ 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday to secure their playoff spot, the trio was united to start the contest and remained together throughout the night.
In their 9:58 combined five-on-five ice time, they were out-attempted 15-11, and the Canadiens saw just 45.6 percent of the expected goals.
Puck drop for Game 1 is set for 7 pm inside Capital One Arena on Monday night.
