Chicago Blackhawks' Kane wary of penalties
Patrick Kane has never been known to take many penalties, but his most recent two heading into the Chicago Blackhawks' game against Dallas on Thursday night certainly were noteworthy.
The first came against Anaheim on Monday when he reared back and slashed Nick Ritchie after Ritchie slashed Kane. That whack earned Kane a $5,000 fine.
The next night in Nashville, Kane was whistled for high-sticking Kevin Fiala 1:02 into the third period of the Hawks' 3-2 loss. Roman Josi scored on the ensuing power play to give Nashville a 3-1 lead.
"Obviously you don't want your stick to come up high in a situation like that against Nashville," said Kane, who failed to put away a few Grade A scoring chances in the first period. "That's something that I obviously need to be more aware of and not (be) as careless in that situation."
Said coach Joel Quenneville: "I think we've got to be smarter. We've taken some needless penalties. And they're looking for that more - whether it's a whack or the slash. … Don't make it easy on the referee."
Kane has averaged 23½ penalty minutes over the past four seasons and already has 12 in this campaign. He admitted Thursday he gets "pretty emotional" on the ice.
"Sometimes you want to control your frustrations in moments like that and be a little bit smarter," Kane said. "But I don't know. Certain situations are a lot different. Both of them were in the moment, and then you kind of realize what you did. Kind of live and learn from those situations."
Kane took another penalty Thursday, hooking Dallas' Radek Faksa on a first-period breakaway. Faksa was awarded a penalty shot and converted to give Dallas a 2-1 lead at 17:20.
Slap shots:
Forward Jordin Tootoo cleared waivers Wednesday and the Hawks assigned him to Rockford. Tootoo, 34, played in 50 games for the Hawks last season, scoring 2 goals. He had been on long-term injured reserve with an upper-body injury. … Going into Thursday's action, Alex DeBrincat was tied with Vancouver's Brock Boeser for most goals (9) among rookies in November. That number also tied them for third among all NHL players. …
Dallas' Radek Faksa recorded a hat trick vs. Las Vegas in the Stars' last game, with his second and third goals coming seven seconds apart. The last player to score his second and third goals in less than eight seconds was Hartford's Sylvain Turgeon (0:06) in 1987. … Dallas' Martin Hanzal did not play against the Hawks. He is out with a lower-body injury.