Blackhawks star Patrick Kane on the road to another trophy
If there were any doubts about whether Patrick Kane knows where he stands in the NHL scoring race, they were all but erased after the Blackhawks' 3-1 victory over Columbus on Friday night.
Me: “You closed the gap on Connor McDavid to 3 points tonight. Two weeks ago you said you weren't looking (at where you stand) every day. You've got to be looking now.”
Kane: “Yeah, I think it's 4 (points), right?”
Me: “Three.”
Kane: “I think it's 4.”
Me: “All right, it's 4.”
A smiling Kane: “Yeah, I probably know better than you.”
We exploded in laughter, and came to three realizations at the same time:
• Kane know exactly where he sits in the points standings.
• He would love to become the first player to capture back-to-back Art Ross trophies since Jaromir Jagr won four straight from 1998-2001.
• He's better at first-grade math that I am.
“You gave me a little excitement there,” Kane said, clearly wishing he were just 3 points out of first.
Catching McDavid, whose Oilers were at Anaheim late Saturday, won't be easy, but to count Kane out would be sheer lunacy. After correcting me, Kane went on to laud what McDavid has accomplished in his second season.
“He's been an amazing player. Captain of that team. Big part of that franchise,” said Kane, who has 87 points. “Gets them back in the playoffs, and probably one of the funnest players to watch in the league as well. He's had a great year.”
An MVP-type year, for sure. But so has Kane, and voters would be wise to seriously consider handing the Hawks dynamo the Hart Trophy for a second straight season. Popular sentiment seems to be leaning toward McDavid or the Penguins' Sidney Crosby, but it's clear that nobody has been more valuable than Kane over the last quarter of the season.
Consider: The Hawks have all but wrapped up the No. 1 seed in the West by going 20-4-2 since Feb. 2, thanks in large part to Kane racking up 19 goals and 19 assists. That's a 120-point pace during the most important part of the season.
Over that same time, McDavid has 11 goals and 21 assists as Edmonton went 15-9-1, while Crosby has 15 goals and 13 assists as Pittsburgh went 16-6-6. For sure, those are fantastic numbers, but they aren't as impressive as Kane's.
Other top candidates for the Hart include Boston forward Brad Marchand, San Jose D-man Brent Burns and Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. All three have had fantastic seasons, but it would be a huge upset if any of them won over Kane, McDavid or Crosby.
The Blackhawks don't have a whole lot to play for as they finish the season with a home game against Boston today and three road tilts at Colorado, Anaheim and Los Angeles.
Those contests, though, may be very important to Kane, because if he could get past McDavid and win the scoring race, it should go a long way in convincing some on-the-fence writers that he deserves the award again.
• Follow John on Twitter @johndietzdh