Patrick Kane scored his ninth career hat trick in the Chicago Blackhawks’ 5-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday.
Kane tied with Steve Larmer for fourth place on the all-time Hawks list behind Bobby Hull (28), Stan Mikita (16) and Denis Savard (11).
“I only got a few chances tonight,” Kane said. “Going back to the last few games with Max (Domi) and (Philipp Kurashev) got a few looks and it was nice to capitalize on that. Always nice to have a game like this at home.”
Kane has reached another plateau that he owns all to himself.
According to NHL stats, he became the first player to score 700 points at the United Center when he scored the opening goal after 10 minutes and 44 seconds. With two more goals and an assist on Sunday, he has 703 points – 255 goals and 448 assists – in 641 games with UC.
Kane also recorded his 104th three-point game of his career, passing American-born skater Mike Modano to finish only second, trailing only Pat LaFontaine (116).
“I’ve only seen old Patrick Kane on TV,” said Hawks coach Luke Richardson, “so to see it live … but he definitely played with an obvious confidence and swagger that you’ll usually see him with.”
“He was really, really good with the puck tonight. Even defensively you’ve seen him in all the right spots in the D-Zone so he’s not cheating the game to do what he had to do tonight. He played right and the puck came back to him. I was happy for him.”
Kane has been on a hot streak lately, scoring five goals in his last two games. He scored the opening goal 44 seconds into Friday’s road trip finals against the Ottawa Senators and equalized in the third period to send the game into overtime as the Hawks pulled off a 4-3 excitement.
Kane’s first goal on Sunday saw Domi meet Kane, who put in a shot between defender Timothy Liljegren’s legs.
On the second goal of the second period, Kane took a centering pass from Domi and drifted into the left circle until he found a streak of light under Ilya Samsonov’s left block.
Three minutes later, Kane conceded the rebound from Connor Murphy, maneuvered past the net and deflected the puck off Samsonov’s back. No goal was initially scored, but video review changed the call.
“I thought it had a chance,” Kane said. “They must have watched the replay on the bench because they told me it was in. When I saw it in person, I thought it might be half over the line, half on the line. Yes, just enough.”
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Richardson said he had no doubt.
“We saw it immediately on our teleprompter on the floor of the bank,” he said. “The only concern I had was whether they were going to say the whistle blew because it sort of rolled through the keeper and then crossed the line.
“And that’s a smart game. It’s an old Wayne Gretzky play. He’s the first guy to do it behind the goal line, so smart play.”
Eight minutes from time, Cole Guttman scored his first NHL goal to put the Hawks 4-3 up and Domi added an empty goal with 1:16 left, helped by Kane.
Cole Guttman talks about celebrating his first NHL goal with former University of Denver teammate Ian Mitchell and sharing the spotlight with Patrick Kane: “I really couldn’t have put it better.” pic.twitter.com/IFRcwg60Qo
— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) February 20, 2023
“It felt incredible,” Guttman said. “It was definitely a dream come true. I’ve thought about it my whole life, so putting it in felt great.”
He celebrated by hugging former University of Denver teammate Ian Mitchell.
“It was unreal,” Guttman said. “I looked up and saw him and really couldn’t have portrayed it any better. I’ve been through a lot with this guy so it was nice to celebrate with him.”
Source: www.chicagotribune.com
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