Patrick Kane injured in Chicago Blackhawks’ 5-2 loss and will miss ‘the next couple of games’
Chicago Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane suffered an upper-body injury in the second period of Monday’s 5-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche at the United Center. Coach Jeff Blashill said that Kane will miss at least the next couple of games.
On his last shift of the game, Kane’s stick collided with the net behind goaltender Spencer Knight. He appeared to be skating gingerly prior to that moment, so it’s unclear when the injury took place or what the injury is.
He didn’t play the rest of the game and was officially ruled out for the entire third period. Kane has scored nine points (one goal, team-leading eight assists) this season, second on the Hawks (Connor Bedard, 10).
“He’s the heartbeat of this team, the guy that we lean on so much on and off the ice,” Bedard said. “And the biggest thing is, we just hope he’s fine and hope he’s ready to go as soon as possible.”
The 37-year-old returned to the Hawks in July after a little over three seasons with the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings. He has not scored a goal since the season opener in Las Vegas on Sept. 29, but notched his 900th career assist against the Boston Bruins on Halloween.
The Hawks (4-10-1) gave up five unanswered goals to the Avalanche after taking a 2-0 lead in the first 7:05 of play. They have lost three straight games, and six of their last seven.
“I’d be lying (if I said) there’s no frustration,” Bedard said. “We’re 4-11, but I don’t think there’s a lack of belief or a lack of effort in here.”
Added Blashill: “I think a lot of times the score dictates how people feel about the game. We competed hard, they’re a good team, they competed hard. They won the game but it was a game that I think if you take the emotion or the score out from clouding your vision, it’s a pretty even game and we lose it.”
The Hawks introduced their hometown remix jerseys — ones very similar to their St. Patrick Day jerseys — paying homage to the annual dyeing of the Chicago River. The luck was on their side early, as Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar practically scored on himself attempting to block Wyatt Kaiser’s first-period shot.
Roman Kantserov scored the Hawks’ second goal, his sixth of the season. He’s tied with the Bruins’ James Hagens for the most goals scored by a rookie in 2026-27.
The luck ran out immediately as the Avalanche (9-5-1) scored two goals in 26 seconds and didn’t look back. Forwards Jaden Schwartz and Nazem Kadri scored two goals each, while defenseman Devon Toews scored an empty-net goal in the third.
“Is there concern about results? Of course, we’d like to be 15-0,” Blashill said. “But we’ve had enough games where we’ve been in position to win and we haven’t won enough of those. If you continuously do it over and over and get incrementally better, at some point you look back and you say, ‘we did a good job climbing out of that.'”
The Hawks drew six penalties, including a double-minor on Artyom Levshunov for a high elbow on Makar. That drew the ire of center Martin Necas, resulting in a scrum.
“I didn’t like it at all, I thought it was more than just a two-minute elbowing, too,” Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog, who later hip-checked Levshunov in mid-air, told reporters postgame. “I think he leaves his feet and I think he makes head contact, should have been reviewed for that. If the refs aren’t going to call it, then we got to take it into our hands a little bit.”
The Hawks play the Florida Panthers (8-5-2) and Tampa Bay Lightning (8-3-2) in a back-to-back starting Wednesday. After that, they visit the defending champion Carolina Hurricanes (12-2-2) on Saturday.
klumpkins@chicagotribune.com