Laine's Blog - Season 2, Part 4

\This article first appeared on 3/29 on www.nhl.com/fi as part of a year-long exclusive correspondence with Winnipeg Jets forward Patrik Laine.
Throughout the 2018-19 season, NHL.com/fi will be your home for an exclusive look inside the life of Winnipeg Jets forward Patrik Laine. In his own words, the Tampere, Finland native will dish on all things on and off the ice. In this instalment, about his own game, the tight race for top spot in Central Division and the upcoming playoffs.*
We were really happy and excited to clinch a spot in the playoffs. That has been our goal ever since the beginning of the season, and that's why we work so hard every day. We have five games left in the regular season, and those games give us a chance to secure the top spot in Central Division. It would be huge and give us home advantage at least against our division rivals. But the race is really tight, because Nashville is eyeing the same top spot. It's not gonna be easy, but we just have to play our best game and get some wins.

It's not like we watch the standings all the time. Not at all. We take one day and one game at a time, and after each game we check what's up next. That's as far as we let our minds wander.
As for the regular season games left, there are important points to grab, but those games are also a good opportunity for us to improve our game before the playoffs. What you've seen from us lately, it won't be enough to win playoff games. We have to be better, and knowing that motivates us during the weeks leading to the playoffs.
Kevin Hayes has been an excellent addition to our team. He brought some depth in the middle, and he's a great player and a locker room guy. So, our offensive game is working. Well, there's always room for improvement, but I'm not worried about our offense. What I'd like to see get better is our defensive game. Sometimes, after a good night, we forget the importance of defense in the next game, and it has cost us. You get nothing for free in this League, because all the teams are so good. We have to remember that and work hard every night.
My own game is getting back to what it used to be at its best, little by little. My season has had its ups and downs, but it hasn't been all bad. There have been some great moments along the road, even though my numbers aren't the same as last season and the season before that.
It doesn't matter who scores the goals in the playoff games. My focus is on helping my team to win, any way I can. We want wins, and the number of wins is the only thing that really matters in the coming weeks and months.
Editor's note (as of 3/29): 20-year-old Laine has 30 goals and 50 points in 76 games this season, and he has reached 30 goals for the third consecutive season to start his NHL career. He's one of only four players in NHL history to have three 30-goal seasons before turning 21 years old, joining Wayne Gretzky, Dale Hawerchuk and Jimmy Carson. Laine is currently third in goals among NHL Finns, behind Florida Panthers Aleksander Barkov (34) and Colorado Avalanche Mikko Rantanen (31).