The obvious skill Laine and Ovechkin have in common as forwards is the ability to score goals. Neither did that Sunday, but Ovechkin leads the NHL again this season with 46 and is closing in on the eighth 50-goal season of his 14-season NHL career.
Laine, who was the No. 2 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, has gone through some ups and downs this season but is one goal away from reaching 30 for the third time in as many NHL seasons. Since joining Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler on Winnipeg's top line, he has nine points (four goals, five assists) in the past nine games.
But it was a frustrating night against the Capitals with the Jets going 0-for-5 on the power play, including a 5-on-3 for 1:34 in the first period.
"There's things we need to work on, but tight game against the Stanley Cup champs in their building," Laine said. "I don't think it's a bad game."
While Jets coach Paul Maurice has been excited to see Laine learning to use his size (6-foot-5, 206 pounds) to become the power forward Winnipeg envisions him being, he has been most pleased with Laine's play away from the puck.
"We needed him to do the other things, the 5-on-5 things, his awareness that it's important," Maurice said. "That's probably it. Young players, all of a sudden they wake up one day and go, 'I've got to do everything. I've got to finish my checks, I've got to backcheck, I've got to win the battles on the wall, I've got to do all those things.'"
Skating on the top line usually brings a difficult matchup against a top scoring line or a checking line focused on shutting them down. On Sunday, Laine saw a lot of Washington's second line of Jakub Vrana, Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie.
Regardless, being responsible defensively is essential in the role Laine is now playing, and he understands that.
"Always learning through experiences, especially those times when you're not scoring, when the puck is not going into the net, and that's what I do best," Laine said. "It's always tough, but then you start thinking about all of the other things more. And what can I do better? And how can I get more chances and still play good defense? Playing good defense is going to win you championships, I know that."