Offtopic » HELSINKI (AP) — Patrik Laine could hardly

find a better place than home to show off his high-scoring instincts.Laine Tuukka Rask Jersey , from Finland, had a hat trick as the Winnipeg Jets beat the Florida Panthers 4-2 in a regular-season game in the Finnish capital Thursday night.Laine scored in the second period and twice in the third, including an empty-netter, in the opener of a back-to-back series between the teams in front of a roaring sellout crowd of 13,500 at Hartwall Arena.“I don’t think you can imagine how good that feels,” Laine said. “It’s good to be home and score all those goals back here. It’s pretty awesome.”Laine wristed a shot past James Reimer on a power play for a 2-1 lead with 4:46 left in the second, then slapped a one-timer for the winner on a two-man advantage from atop the left circle 3:28 into the third. He scored on an empty net for his fifth career hat trick.Mathieu Perreault scored the opening goal for the Jets (8-4-1), and captain Blake Wheeler and defenseman Dustin Byfuglien had three assists each. The Panthers (2-5-3), who outshot Winnipeg 38-36, tied the score twice on goals by Keith Yandle and Evgenii Dadonov.Florida captain Aleksander Barkov, also a native of Finland, assisted on Yandle’s goal.“Overall, as a team, we played good in their zone,” Barkov said. “We have another game (Friday), and we have to concentrate on that.”Laine, whose 44 goals were second to Alex Ovechkin’s 49 last season for the NHL lead Zdeno Chara Jersey , had just three goals and two assists in 12 games.“Tonight was a good example of what we see from (Laine) so often,” Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said. “He scored three, but I think he could have had seven. I’m just so happy for him and his family that he can have a night like this. It’s just outstanding.”The Panthers had the momentum in early stages, outshooting the Jets 9-0 in the opening minutes. They controlled the puck most of the opening period, but Connor Hellebuyck kept them at bay, turning back 18 shots in the opening frame.Hellebuyck denied Dadonov on a breakaway and helped the Jets kill a penalty before Perreault struck on the other side, scoring the go-ahead goal on a rebound with 1:26 remaining.“We generated a ton of chances,” Florida coach Bob Boughner said. “This is what it’s been like since the season started. We’re still trying to break through and get the offensive production going.”Yandle tied it with 15:42 left in the second period, firing a slap shot on a 4-on-3 power play.With an assist on Yandle’s goal, forward Mike Hoffman extended his point streak to eight games, and center Nick Bjugstad had the 100th assist of his career.The game was the 24th played in Europe during the regular season and the sixth in Finland. In October, the New Jersey Devils beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 in their regular-season opener in Gothenburg, Sweden.UP NEXTThe Jets and the Panthers complete their two-game series in Helsinki on Friday.NOTESNHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the NHL is planning to play a season-opening game in Prague and another two games in Stockholm next season. Speaking before the game in Helsinki on Thursday, Bettman said the league is planning to keep a presence in Europe in the future. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Connor Hellebuyck loves what he’s seeing in his first NHL postseason, and the 24-year-old goalie is doing his best to make sure the Winnipeg Jets do much more than just stick around.Hellebuyck made 47 saves and the Jets beat the Nashville Predators 4-1 on Friday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinal between the NHL’s top teams in the regular season.”I love the intensity, I love the game in front of me Eric Fehr Jersey Womens ,” Hellebuyck said about the playoffs. ”It’s awesome and a little different. Intense is the right way to put it.”Not only did the teams top the standings, this series is the first between clubs with the most combined points ever before a conference finals after Nashville (117) edged Winnipeg (114) for the Presidents’ Trophy.Both the Jets and Predators brought a Vezina finalist into this series. Hellebuyck outdueled veteran Pekka Rinne, who was pulled after the second period after giving up three goals on 16 shots. Hellebuyck, who finished off Minnesota with back-to-back shutouts, picked up where he left off a week ago.Hellebuyck stretched his shutout streak to 163 minutes before Nashville finally scored. Coach Paul Maurice said the Jets weren’t at their best and can play better.”But we pay our goaltender, too,” Maurice said.Mark Scheifele scored two goals, including an empty-netter as the Jets were outshot 48-19. Brandon Tanev and Paul Stastny also scored to help the Jets – the NHL’s best home team in the regular season – steal home-ice advantage.Kevin Fiala scored for the Predators, which had won 11 of their last 14 playoff games in Nashville. Several Predators said they thought this was perhaps their best game of the season, talk coach Peter Laviolette didn’t share.”You give me two choices on where to be, our game or their win, I’d take the win,” Laviolette said. ”It’s about winning hockey games right now.”The Predators had the sparkling pregame show with the retractable screen dropping from the ceiling and country star Dierks Bentley singing the U.S. anthem, and a couple catfish hit the ice before the puck drop to boot. Then they pelted Hellebuyck with 15 of the first 19 shots.Then the Jets scored the game’s first goal for a sixth straight playoff game. Tanev’s wrister beat Rinne’s outstretched right skate at 14:51 of the first.Nashville finished the period with 20 shots, a franchise postseason record for a period, with Hellebuyck continuing his shutout streak started with consecutive shutouts to finish off Minnesota in the first round.”He was awesome,” Jets forward Blake Wheeler said about Hellebuyck. ”They were throwing everything at the net. What we were trying to do in front of him was just get bodies http://www.sabresshoponline.com/authentic-jack-eichel-jersey , get sticks, let him see things. You could tell early on if he was seeing the puck he was going to make the stops.”The Predators kept shooting away with Hellebuyck making every save, and the Jets proved very opportunistic. Stastny scored off a rebound of Patrik Laine’s shot at 9:01 of the second on Winnipeg’s ninth shot for a 2-0 lead.Filip Forsberg, Nashville’s postseason scoring leader, hit the post on the power play with 3:31 left. The Jets killed off the penalty, and Scheifele beat Rinne with a long shot with 2:09 left in the second for a 3-0 lead that silenced the sold-out crowd.Fiala at least helped Nashville avoid being shut out with his wrister 1:23 into the third . Not even pulling backup goalie Juuse Saros with more than 2 minutes left helped.”For us right now, there’s a few things we have to clean up, a couple of mistakes cost us, but bounces are going to happen in a hockey game, that’s just the way it is,” Nashville defenseman P.K. Subban said. ”We’ll be ready to go on Sunday. Let’s do that for the rest of the series, we’re going to be a happy bunch at the end of it.NOTES: Nashville defenseman Ryan Ellis went to the locker room after being clipped on the cheek by the skate of Jets defenseman Ben Chiarot early in the third. … Austin Watson, who had seven points in the first round for Nashville, did not return after playing 4:09 of the first period. Laviolette said an update on Watson is expected Saturday.UP NEXTGame 2 is Sunday night in Nashville.—