Ice hockey | Patrik Laine made his debut – the crowd went wild in Montreal

Montreal In their first practice match of the season, the Canadiens clearly beat the Philadelphia Flyers in their home arena with a score of 5–0.

The match was after moving from Columbus to Montreal in the summer Patrik Laine26, first in Montreal and first game since last December.

Laine was left without power points, but had the home crowd in ecstasy already in the opening set. After a long absence from playing, he looked surprisingly fresh at the very beginning and once sailed from end to end of the field past several Flyers players.

The crowd was so excited by Laine’s trick that they cheered every time the Finn touched the puck in the offensive zone in the opening set.

The following reporter from near Montreal Arpon Basu for example, wrote in X that few players get the kind of reception from a passionate home crowd at Center Bell.

Wave suffered a collarbone injury last season and in January applied for the treatment program of the NHL players’ association for mental health reasons. He was sidelined from the rinks for a long time.

Laine’s straight skating was at a moderate level considering that the Finnish star had apparently not done any skating training before arriving at the training camp in Montreal.

Not skating and not playing shined in the starts and turns. The wave turned angularly, and the legs lacked explosiveness.

Laine still has a lot of work to do with skating, which is understandable at this point.

Puck security, on the other hand, was at a good level right from the first match. In the offensive zone, Laine looked dangerous if he had even a moment of extra time.

Wave played in Montreal’s first team together By Kirby Dach and by Alex Newhook with and shot the most (five times) of all players.

In the second set, Laine’s chain organized several half-time goal posts. Laine also got to score from a tasty spot between the b-points, but the Flyers Rasmus Ristolainen blocked the shot.

At the end of the set, Laine was able to shoot with superiority directly from the pass from his favorite plot, but the Flyers’ goalkeeper Calvin Petersen stretched out in front of the puck.

Laine also excelled as a playmaker by providing a few good passes in the attacking area.

Laine’s playing condition was a huge mystery, but the first match was promising and a positive surprise, even though Laine’s chain froze in the third set.

of Montreal there was another Finn in the lineup, who played in the Lions’ World Cup team last spring Oliver Kapanen21.

Kapanen was excellent in the match of the night. He stood out in the rink with his slick moves and grabbed two assists.

In the video below, Kapanen nicely orchestrated Montreal’s fifth goal.

Kapanen was chosen as the second star of the match.

Kapanen is involved in Montreal’s training camp, but his original intention is to play in the Swedish premier league this season Olli Jokinen coaching in Timrå.

of Philadelphia saved half of the match with the goal Eetu Mäkiniemi, who is with the Flyers on a trial contract. NHL teams tend to change goaltenders in practice games about halfway through the game.