Patrik Laine Disagrees With John Tortorella's Decision To Bench Him Yet Again

The Columbus Blue Jackets are now on a three game skid. They were humiliated in a 5-0 defeat by the Dallas Stars and dropped the next two games against the Florida Panthers. This time, they lead the Panthers 4-1 with 15 minutes left in the 3rd period and somehow managed to lose 5-4 in OT. Coach John Tortorella is clearly not happy as is far from renewing his vows with Patrik Laine.

When asked his thoughts about the game, this is what Laine had to say.

It's pretty embarrassing, but...yeah

The reporter then went on to state that Laine was not on the ice for the final 7 minutes or the overtime and asked if he was surprised to not be included on the shortened bench.

Umm yeah we got scored on a couple of times, but I think the first two, if you took out the one play where the puck was bouncing a little bit and I couldn't get it out and they ended up scoring, I thought I was playing good. I guess I thought wrong.

Laine has been pointless in 7 consecutive games. Tortorella did not offer much of an explanation for benching Laine other than to say "At that point in time, that's just the way it worked out."

Tortorella has already benched Laine once this season and wasn't afraid to do it again. GM Jarmo Kekalainen has already affirmed his confidence in Tortorella amid calls from fans and media members for his firing. Was that the 'kiss of death' where the coach is fired in the near future, or does he support the coach's decision to whip Laine into place?

As expected, the Patrik Laine/John Tortorella marriage is off to a thundering start: pic.twitter.com/H1ObV0FYtK
— Nick Alberga (@thegoldenmuzzy) March 12, 2021

John Tortorella’s response to not playing Laine at the end of the game: "At that point in time, that's just the way it worked out."
— CBJ Coverage (@CBJcoverage) March 12, 2021