Patrik Laine takes rookie goal lead with quick snipe (Video)

Patrik Laine grabbed the rookie scoring lead from Auston Matthews with a lethally quick snipe from the slot. 

The Winnipeg Jets and Toronto Maple Leafs have a bit of a friendly rivalry. Much like the one between Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, this involves two young players. Auston Matthews leads the Maple Leafs while Patrik Laine leads the Jets.

Considering they were selected first and second overall in the 2016 NHL Draft, their rivalry is even more heated. Laine might have tried to downplay their rivalry, but he’s got to feel pretty good about taking the rookie goal lead from Matthews. Against Toronto, the Finnish forward tied the game at one with a quick snipe.

Laine’s goal is important for several reasons. First of all, he wears number 29 and that’s his 29th goal of the season. Don’t be surprised if Laine suspiciously gets cold for the rest of the season. Secondly, it ties him with Atlanta Thrashers legend Ilya Kovalchuk for the most goals by a rookie in franchise history.

Both Laine and Matthews have been dynamic this season. It reminds a lot of people of Crosby and Ovechkin. Both of those stars took the league by storm in 2005-06, the rookie season for both players. Laine’s more like Ovechkin. As you can see, his release is insane. Laine gets so much power behind it and it’s incredibly quick. Accuracy has been an issue for him, but when you shoot that hard, aiming it isn’t a priority.

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Laine is a very important player to the Jets future. They will have to score a lot of goals to be good. Laine figures to lead in that regard. His shooting percentage is very high, but if it’s even slightly sustainable, shooting talent is one of the hardest to come by in the NHL. That makes him incredibly valuable.