from Joe Lemire of the New York Times,

Winnipeg Jets right wing Patrik Laine honed his powerful right-handed shot as a youngster in his backyard in Tampere, Finland, where he would fire pucks at soda cans after watching YouTube clips of his childhood idol, the Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin.

And like Ovechkin, Laine has found offensive potency on the power play. Since the start of last season, Laine, 20, leads the N.H.L. in man-advantage goals — even if his powerful shot has become detrimental to special-teams practice in morning skates.

“It’s why we rarely work on our power play in practice, because we have three guys run away from the net, and rightfully so,” Jets Coach Paul Maurice said. “The goalie sometimes, too.”

Aggregate power-play success rates in the N.H.L. have been on the rise over the last five seasons, peaking at 20.2 percent a year ago. That number and this season’s 20 percent mark so far are the highest since the 1989-90 season. With more than half of this season completed, four teams are on pace to rank among the top-50 single-season power-play rates in league history: the Tampa Bay Lightning (29.5 percent, sixth), the Boston Bruins (27.2 percent, tied for 25th), the Florida Panthers (26.8 percent, 34th), and the Jets (26.0 percent, 46th).

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