Kane sets career high in Blackhawks' win
Twenty-one seconds.
Less time than is on an NBA shot clock, the NFL play clock or for you to watch a single TV commercial.
Twenty-one seconds — that's all it took for Patrick Kane to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 1-0 lead and for him to add yet another mark to his personal record book during a 4-1 victory over the Red Wings at the United Center on Sunday.
Kane, who already has surpassed career highs in goals, game-winning goals and power-play goals, now has a career-best 89 points and seems a sure bet to become the first Hawk since Jeremy Roenick in 1993-94 to post a 100-point season.
“First shot, first goal,” Jonathan Toews said. “It's nice to start that way.”
Unless you're a Red Wings fan, of course. Six minutes later, it was 2-0 Hawks when Duncan Keith ripped home his ninth goal of the season with the Hawks on the power play.
At that point, Detroit coach Jeff Blashill had seen enough and pulled starting goalie Petr Mrazek in favor of Jimmy Howard.
“I didn't think the first goal was one that should've went in,” Blashill said. “It's one that Petr normally has.”
The switch paid off for Blashill in a hurry as Gustav Nyquist made it 2-1 just 2:15 after Keith's goal, and Detroit went on to own the second period, outshooting the Hawks 13-3.
It was during that stretch and into the early stages of the third period that Corey Crawford showed why he might just be Joel Quenneville's MVP this season. Crawford stopped the last 32 shots he saw, including a flurry of them in front of the net midway through the second period, and a Dylan Larkin attempt right on the doorstep with 17:10 remaining in the game.
“It was one of those games, if you're going to have some defensive breakdowns or a bunch of penalty kills, we need him to be big and he was in those situations,” Toews said. “A big reason we won today.”
Once the Hawks survived the ugly second period, they scored twice in the span of 68 seconds midway through the third, with Artem Anisimov re-directing an Artemi Panarin shot from the point, and Toews doing the same — albeit with his right leg — on Andrew Desjardins' shot from just outside the left circle.
The Hawks improved to 41-21-5 and remain tied with Dallas atop the Central Division. The Blues are 4 points back and have played one fewer game.
Fighting for that division crown — and home-ice advantage in the playoffs — certainly figures to keep Toews and Co. motivated down the stretch.
“We know what our goals are,” Toews said. “We want to end up on top and stay where we're at and continue to win. It's a little added motivation given the fact that the standings are close at the top right now.”
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