Kane’s sparkling return marred by hit

He began his first shift by breaking up a pass in his own zone and ended it with a shot on goal.

On his second shift, he produced an electrifying end-to-end rush in which he split a pair of Red Wings like they were standing still and then split two more with a perfect pass to Marian Hossa, who nearly scored.

Just a few minutes later, with the Hawks on the power play, he took a sweet drop pass from Jonathan Toews and zipped one past Ty Conklin to open the scoring.

He later added an assist and came close to scoring another goal or 2.

Welcome back, Patrick Kane.

Playing in his first exhibition game since returning from a wrist injury, Kane was the center of attention at the United Center — literally and figuratively — causing a buzz each time he touched the puck while centering a line for Hossa and Andrew Brunette.

Kane finished with a goal, an assist and was 8-4 on faceoffs to lead the Blackhawks to a 4-3 victory over Detroit.

Not too shabby.

“Overall I thought our line played pretty good with the puck,” said Kane, who was selected the game’s No. 1 star. “It was just nice to be out there playing hockey.”

“We liked it,” coach Joel Quenneville said of Kane’s play at center in general, and his play alongside Hossa specifically.

But as uplifting as Kane’s play was, an ugly incident in the third period left the Hawks fuming.

Shortly after scoring the game-tying goal while being pulled to the ice, Hawks forward Ben Smith was sent to the ice again, this time by a Brendan Smith shoulder to the head.

Ben Smith lay motionless on the ice for a few minutes after the hit.

“That’s a hit you’ve got to get rid of,” Kane said. “It was scary to see Benny down and out like that.”

Smith eventually was helped off the ice while Brendan Smith was kicked off it, and that’s where the Hawks are hoping he stays for a long while.

“(The rules) are pretty black and white; we’re not happy about it,” said Quenneville, who added that Smith was doing “better” after the game.

“Hopefully that’s a big suspension — 10, 15, 20 games,” Kane said.

Hoss in the House: After a trying summer that included the death of a close friend and the birth of a baby girl, Marian Hossa is ready to roll this season with the Hawks.#147;I would like to play 80 to 82 games for sure,#148; said Hossa, who will be wearing the number 38 on his skates to honor late friend Pavel Demitra. #147;That#146;s my goal, I hope, because I had a long summer and a longer recovery and summer program and hopefully that will help.#148;Hossa, playing on a line with Patrick Kane on Wednesday against Detroit, scored the game-winner in his first exhibition game of the season.#147;Kaner did an excellent job,#148; Hossa said. #147;We had a lot of chances.#148;Stalberg out:Viktor Stalberg left the game after the first period after sustaining a lower-body injury that coach Joel Quenneville termed #147;not good.#148;In the House:The announced crowd of 20,078 was the second-largest preseason crowd in franchise history, even though it looked like only about three-quarters of the crowd actually were on hand.