Laine frustrated with scoreless streak, blames himself

[Laine 1,361]

Patrik Laine during a Miami Marauders practice on Monday, August 4th, 2020

 

MIAMI - Miami has been rolling this season. So far in 31 games, they have a record of 24-5-2. Good for 50 points and tied for 1st place in the VHL with the Houston Bulls. However, not everything is good in Miami. Patrik Laine knows this all too well. He had a 15 game goalless streak 2 years ago while he was playing with the Winnipeg Jets in the NHL. His inconsistency is coming back. Laine has been goalless in 12 out of his last 15 and pointless in 10 of his last 15.

 

"It f**king sucks, I know the team is winning but when you haven’t been able to do anything to help your team win, it frustrates you.” Said Laine, when asked about the point drought “I don’t blame my teammates or ice time. The team has been playing well and I average 22 minutes a game. This is more of an issue with me not being able to score. Like when we lost our first game to Vegas is when the streak started. We’ve lost only 7 games this year, 2 of them in OT or a shootout. I just feel like if I was scoring, even if it is just a goal or an assist per game, we could have won those games.”

 

Laine had 59 points in 58 games last year for the Houston Bulls. He also led the team in goals, scoring 27 throughout the season. Laine has 34 points in 31 games this year, 14 of them being goals. A majority of those points came in the first 20 games. Laine believes it is just a slump and is optimistic he will bounce back.

 

"You know, we’ve seen before I can get really hot and be scoring at will almost, but I want to be a consistent player. I just want to prove that I can be that go-to player and I haven’t been doing that yet. As you, unfortunately, saw in the one game against Minnesota, when it rains, it pours."

 

Laine was referring to a game from earlier this year, a 3-1 loss to the rival Minnesota Storm where Laine accidentally shot the puck into his own net. The own goal ended up being the game winner.

 

Miami Marauders captain Andre LeBastard comforts Laine after he accidentally shot the puck into his own net for the game-winning goal against the Minnesota Storm

 

"That goal will haunt me for a while. I basically gift-wrapped them 2 points. I was livid after that game, I thought I had lost the game for the team. Going back to the bench for me was hard. As soon as I sat down, LeBastard came over and told me not to worry about it. I was just so hard on myself. I even had a talk with Rice about it after the game. He told me not to worry about it too much and that I would get my mojo back soon.” Laine said when asked about the incident. “My teammates have been playing well. Matty has gone off. Lamb is back producing at a point/game rate. They’ve also been really nice given I haven’t been scoring a lot. I know I just gotta keep playing my game and one day I’ll be right back to my best hockey."

 

 

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