Laine: Being a healthy scratch is 'the most embarrassing thing'

Columbus Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine hit rock bottom Sunday when he was made a healthy scratch for the team's 5-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.

"Over my career, it's probably the most embarrassing thing that's happened to me," Laine said Tuesday, per The Athletic's Aaron Portzline. "I'm not happy about that. They know that. It is what it is. It's over and done."

Laine added that he was "blindsided" by the decision.

Head coach Pascal Vincent said Laine "needed to take a deep breath." Laine was also benched for most of the third period of Thursday's loss to the Arizona Coyotes.

Laine has recorded two goals and one assist in nine games this season. He missed time earlier in the campaign with an upper-body injury.

The Blue Jackets experimented with the sniping winger at center earlier this season, but he returned to his natural position at Tuesday's practice.

Laine has averaged 34 goals and 32 assists per 82 games in his eight-year NHL career. The Winnipeg Jets selected him second overall in 2016 before trading him to Columbus in 2021 in the deal that sent Pierre-Luc Dubois the other way.

The Blue Jackets are in the midst of a disastrous season. They rank last in the Eastern Conference and have lost nine games in a row.