New Columbus Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine fell victim to the “John Tortorella Method” in a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night at Nationwide Arena.
The Finn was benched from the sixth minute of the second period and saw no action afterwards. He was used for about seven minutes in the first period, four in the second, and sat for the entire third.
After the match, Tortorella was stingy with comments about the situation.
“It wasn’t because of a failed mission. There are a number of elements that have influenced this. It will stay inside our locker room, ”said the driver during his press briefing.
The experienced coach, however, tried to play it down.
“I know you think this is something huge,” he told the media. I think it’s more of a step for him to understand our team concept, how we do things here ”.
This is reminiscent of the Blue Jackets head coach’s treatment of forward Pierre-Luc Dubois in his last games for Ohio squad.
The Quebecer was traded to the Winnipeg Jets for Laine on January 23.
It was the other player against Dubois who scored the winning goal against the Hurricanes. Indeed, Jack Roslovic broke a tie late in the game to give victory to his team.
Cam Atkinson and Scott Harrington scored the winners’ other goals.
In the case of the former, he hit the target with a penalty shot.
Playing shorthanded, the small forward was inconvenienced as he had just left his zone with the puck. He was therefore given the chance to stand alone in front of goalkeeper Alex Nedeljkovic, whom he foiled with a nice feint.
It was Atkinson’s 14th shorthanded victory. He joined Rick Nash at the first rank in the history of the Jackets in this category.
After the encounter, Atkinson was asked about Laine’s fate rather than his achievement.
“Torts expects us to play as hard as we can. It doesn’t matter who we are and I think everyone is aware of that, he said. If you don’t give your 100% and you don’t apply yourself, he’s going to leave you on the bench. It’s not a secret.”
The “Canes” nets were collected by Nino Niederreiter and Brock McGinn.
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