Patrik Laine often missed the net: a sign of his injured finger

As is often the case, especially in the playoffs, the situation surrounding Patrick Laine’s injury is rather nebulous.

During Game 2 of the series against Washington, Laine was playing a rather ordinary game and didn’t seem to be enjoying it, so much so that Martin St-Louis benched him during the third period.

Many thought this was to punish the Finnish forward. Yesterday, however, Laine was not present at the Habs’ morning training session, and the team announced just before the game that he would sit out due to an upper-body injury.

This already removed the possibility of a knee injury, as Laine was struck on his injured knee by Capitals players during the second game.

What’s more, Maxime Truman’s keen eye noticed that number 92 had difficulty clapping in the dressing room after last night’s game, probably indicating a right hand or wrist injury.

Then, an X user noticed that in the video, Laine can be seen wearing some sort of protector on her ring finger, strongly suggesting an injury to that finger.

The kind of injury that can affect a player’s pitching.

And for the past few weeks, Laine has been having a lot of trouble reaching the opposing net despite having one of the most accurate shots in the NHL. This was particularly evident during the power play in Game 2 against the Capitals.

Let’s just say that a finger injury would explain what we’ve been observing for a while: the big Finn isn’t at 100%.

However, if Laine’s shooting accuracy seems to be affected by his injury, the strength of his shot is not, as Nicolas Cloutier explains in an article published today on TVA Sports.

The Finn’s hardest shot in the series was 88.06 mph (141.72 km/h), while his most powerful throw in the regular season was 90.69 mph (145.95 km/h).

So at least his injury doesn’t affect his velocity.

It may sound strange to say, but this injury comes at almost the perfect time for the Canadiens and Martin St-Louis, who don’t have to make the decision to leave Laine in the stands when the team has just played its best playoff game without him.

And if the players continue to perform like they did last night, that gives him time to recover from his injury and come back when he’s 100%.

Patrik Laine often missed the net: a sign of his injured finger

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