PHILADELPHIA — Patrik Laine encountered a grand total of one boo when he stepped onto the ice Thursday for the first shift of his first game against the Philadelphia Flyers. The city’s rugged fans know hockey well enough to spot a powerful adversary worthy of their badgering. But Laine, the Winnipeg Jets’ 18-year-old right wing, got a reprieve.

That sort of oversight probably will not last. Entering the weekend, Laine had a league-leading 12 goals in his first 18 games, five of them on the power play, and had quickly established himself as a force.

Laine, the second pick in this year’s N.H.L. draft, had twice as many goals through Thursday’s games as the player taken first, Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Matthews scored four goals in his first game but entering the weekend had gone 11 games without a goal. Not that Laine was paying much attention.

“It’s not my job to think about those things,” Laine, a Finn whose last name is pronounced Line-ay, said Thursday. “He’s going to focus on what he’s doing, and I’m focused on my job.”