Kane flies past Golden Jet

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This article was published 06/12/2015 (3626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CHICAGO – Patrick Kane carved out his own piece of history Sunday in the Windy City, although it lacked some of the artistic flair that has become the trademark of the Chicago Blackhawks forward.

By drawing an assist on an empty-net goal in a 3-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets, Kane set a franchise record with points in 22 consecutive games, passing Bobby Hull, who set the mark in 1971-72 — just months before joining the World Hockey Association’s Jets.

The Jets kept the flashy forward in check for the first 58 minutes and 14 seconds of the game, but trailing 2-1, opted to pull Michael Hutchinson for the extra attacker. When Artemi Panarin found the empty net with 1:46 left after taking a pass from Kane, the streak remained alive.

“It was up on the glass there and I kind of just threw it up into the middle of the ice,” said Kane. “Luckily enough Panarin was there to make the play and shoot it in… It’s not your usual point I guess, but I think the exciting part was just hearing how into it the crowd was when the announcement was made and hearing how excited they were, so that was a fun little feeling there.

“I think most importantly, it’s exciting to do it here at home in front of all (the fans). Just getting chills on the bench after you hear the announcement with the assist and hearing (the fans) cheer. It was awesome.”

Kane’s streak is the longest by an American-born player, the best since Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby went 25 games in 2010 and marks just the fourth time since 1992-93 a player has had a streak of at least 21 games with a point.

He also did it with Hull in the house as part of the 21,749 at the United Center.

“I’m only too proud to be able to watch a guy like that play,” said Hull prior to the game. “When I was fortunate enough to be playing, I didn’t know that was a record back then; I had no idea. And when they started talking about it I thought, ‘That sounds like maybe I could have done that.’ I saw Patrick the other day and congratulated him.

“I just hope he breaks the record and then goes on and chases (Wayne) Gretzky (who went 51). It’s not only great for him, it’s great for the entire organization and the team and the people of Chicago to see the likes of Patrick play.”

Kane has 13 goals and 23 assists during the streak, which began Oct. 17 against Columbus. To put those numbers in perspective, Kane’s 36 points during the streak is more than any other player in the NHL has scored this season. Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin of the Dallas Stars are tied for second in the NHL in scoring with 35 points each.

“That was great,” said Hawks coach Joel Quenneville. “Kept everybody interested the whole game. Great play exiting our zone and good finish as well, but tonight was probably the first game where it was very noticeable I think everybody on our team was rooting for him and going out of their way a little bit more of what we generally try to do and make sure he had a touch before we attempted a play at the net, but it’s been a remarkable stretch for him. He made some unbelievable plays prior to that to get on the board. Happy for him to sustain it and achieve it. It’s an amazing stretch to the start of the season.”

Interestingly, during Hull’s pre-game availability with the media he spoke of Kane’s ability to stickhandle at full speed, comparing him to an old teammate on the Hot Line from the Jets’ WHA days — Anders Hedberg.

“I’ve never seen a kid handle a puck with such speed and make his feet go at the same speed,” said Hull. “There’s only one guy that I played with, and I don’t know if you guys will remember him or not, a Swede by the name of Anders Hedberg. He could dance. He’d go in on the right side, he shot left, and go right into the goal crease and pull the puck to his backhand and roof it going 30 miles an hour.

“He was the only one I saw skate and handle the puck and skate with that kind of speed. But Patrick does it all the time. Anders just did it when Ulfie (Nilsson) and I would give him a pass and he broke in on the wing. There’s no one that handles the puck like Patrick Kane does and makes his feet go the same way.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait