Hawks' Kane continues his winning ways

Patrick Kane is proving to be a man of his word.

When Kane reported to training camp and said he wanted to take his game to the next level and be one of the NHL's elite players, he wasn't kidding.

Kane was a difference-maker again Thursday night with a spectacular assist in regulation and the deciding goal in the shootout in the Blackhawks' 3-2 win over the Florida Panthers.

Kane was the only one of six shooters to score in the shootout, beating Panthers goalie Jacob Markstrom with a backhander through the legs.

“It's kind of an advantage to go third,” Kane said. “I saw when (Jonathan) Toews faked (on the leadoff attempt), he left the five-hole open.”

Hawks goalie Corey Crawford stopped all three Florida shooters to cap a sensational night. Crawford made 41 saves through regulation.

“He was the best player on our team, no doubt about it,” Kane said.

“At the end of the night it was a goalie win,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “It wasn't pretty, but give Crow some credit. He was razor sharp, top of the crease (with) rebound control.”

Crawford had no chance to stop Ed Jovanovski's tying tip-in with 2:04 to play in the third period.

“We didn't play well in the third period,” Kane said. “I thought we could have played better all game, but we got the 2 points.”

The Hawks weren't at the top of their game, but it was to be expected considering the activities surrounding having their dads along on the trip.

There also was the fact they were facing former teammates Brian Campbell, Tomas Kopecky, Kris Versteeg and Jack Skille and played like they wanted nothing to do with hitting their buddies.

It was just the opposite for Kopecky and Skille, who were physical. It was Kopecky who drilled Niklas Hjalmarsson into the boards in the third period with the kind of crunching check many Hawks fans wonder why Hjalmarsson can't seem to deliver with any consistency.

The Hawks took a 2-0 lead early in the second period on goals by Toews and Marian Hossa.

Toews got his fifth goal in the first period on a nice feed from Andrew Brunette, but it was nowhere near as pretty as Kane's pass to Hossa for the goal at 4:51 of the second.

“He's got the puck a lot right now,” Quenneville said of Kane.

Hossa told reporters he got a text after the game from friend and former NHL star Bobby Holik, who jokingly called Kane the best street hockey player in the NHL right now.

Panthers coach Kevin Dineen felt his team gave Kane and the Hawks too much respect.

“That's a heck of a hockey team, and when they have the puck they can do special things,” Dineen said. “I thought we had a little too much respect for them. We were giving them too much space.”

The Hawks played without defenseman Duncan Keith, who sat with an injured left hand. Brent Seabrook played more than 31 minutes, but the Hawks' best defenseman was Nick Leddy, who had an assist in more than 23 minutes.

Quenneville didn't rule Keith out of Friday's game at Tampa Bay, but it seems unlikely he would play.

“We'll see how he is in the morning,” Quenneville said after beating the Panthers.

On the same night the Hawks were improving to 8-2-2, the Red Wings lost to Calgary for their sixth straight defeat. The first-place Hawks are 7 points up on Detroit in the Central Division standings.

tsassone@dailyherald.com