Kane sparks Chicago Blackhawks' third straight win

Few athletes could snap a drowsy crowd out its slumber better than Michael Jordan.

One minute nothing's going right; the next MJ is tomahawking a thunderous dunk or leading a furious comeback from a double-digit deficit. The standing room only crowds practically brought the rafters down at the old Chicago Stadium on those nights.

Blackhawks fans lucky enough to see Patrick Kane in person can relate, knowing that when he's on the ice they'd better not blink - or go for a beer.

Because you never know when something special is about to happen.

Such was the case during the Hawks' 2-1 victory over Arizona at the UC on Friday when Kane executed a brilliant end-to-end rush that broke a scoreless tie early in the second period.

In the middle of what was a dreadfully boring affair, Kane got the crowd buzzing when he came barreling through the neutral zone at top speed.

After slithering past Jay Beagle, Kane exploded over the offensive blue line and past a lunging Antoine Roussel.

The buzz from the 17,828 in attendance turned to a chorus of OOOHs, and a split second later - without even looking - Kane backhanded a cross-ice pass to Alex DeBrincat.

Shot. Goal.

Absolute, utter bedlam.

It was the type of play only a true superstar can pull off.

"There's probably three guys that do stuff like he does - and two of them are retired," said Hawks coach Derek King. "And I'm not one of them."

The speed and puck-handling is one thing. But the ability to put that pass on a platter for a charging DeBrincat, who was 35 feet away, leaves you with your mouth agape.

"He makes a lot of those plays, but that was a pretty special play," said captain Jonathan Toews. "Obviously a really nice finish by Cat. ... That was a beautiful goal."

Kane's heroics didn't stop there, either, as he assisted on Dylan Strome's game-winner at 9:26 of the third period on the power play. It was Strome's first goal of the season.

The Hawks (4-9-2) have now won three straight since Jeremy Colliton was fired a week ago.

"It seemed like it really lit a fire under us," Kane said after morning skate. "The last couple games is the most energy that you've seen out of our team."

Said King: "You could just see how fragile they were. They're enjoying it (now). It's not pretty sometimes, but that's the game.

"They're battling for each other, they're playing hard, they're trying, we're getting some great goaltending and we're just finding ways to win."

The night wasn't all fun, however, as Kirby Dach was forced to leave after taking a vicious high hit from defenseman Kyle Capobianco. The shot drew blood but no penalty.

Dach returned after missing a couple shifts.

Arizona (1-12-1) got its lone goal from ex-Hawks forward Andrew Ladd early in the third. The Coyotes had 86 seconds of power-play time at the end but could not find the equalizer.

Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury made 22 saves for the Hawks.

The Hawks begin a four-game road trip in Seattle on Wednesday.