Big night could get Chicago Blackhawks' Panarin going

Walking back to the press room with Viktor Tikhonov after the Chicago Blackhawks won their season opener over the New York Rangers, I mentioned how cool it must have felt for Artemi Panarin to score a goal in his first NHL game.

Tikhonov whole-heartedly agreed, then dropped this on me:

“Wait 'til he gets hot. You're going to see some incredible things.”

If anyone should know, it's certainly Tikhonov — Panarin's teammate and friend over the past two seasons while they played together in the Kontinental Hockey League.

The dazzling puck-handling skills. A wicked shot. Pinpoint passing. Sizzling speed.

They're all part of Panarin's package, and we've seen glimpses of each over the first month of the season, including Sunday when he scored 2 goals and registered an assist in the Hawks' 4-2 victory over Edmonton.

Yet, the “incredible thing” that Hawks fans should be most impressed with is the honest-as-the-day-is-long Panarin telling the media how upset he has been over his play of late.

“I was a little embarrassed about my game,” he said. “I was talking with the guys; the guys came up and told me I needed to relax a little bit, trust in myself, and remember that I'm a good player. (Pauses, smiles). I'm an OK player.”

Panarin's play certainly has waffled between “good” and “OK,” but the mediocre moments seem to come when there's just a slight hesitation that ends a scoring chance or allows a goalie to get back in position.

“I think his assessment might have been close to being accurate,” coach Joel Quenneville said.

At times, Panarin almost looks like the hockey version of a Harlem Globetrotter, dazzling and wowing one with how he moves his feet and rat-tat-tats the puck on his stick while under pressure. It's impressive stuff when it works, but it also can lead to a careless turnover and an odd-man rush the other way when it goes on too long.

Sweet relief

What worked Sunday, though, was keeping it simple.

On Panarin's first goal just 58 seconds into the game, he camped out just to the side of the left faceoff dot and blasted a one-timer off a gorgeous pass from Kane to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead. Then, late in the first period, Panarin brought the puck up ice, got D-man Mark Fayne turned around and calmly went right to the middle of the ice where he flipped a shot over the left shoulder of goalie Cam Talbot from about 15 feet away.

Panarin, who had gone 11 games without a goal, admitted Sunday that “he was waiting for this moment for a while” and “there was a period when I was really, really trying hard to score.”

That would come as no surprise to former Blackhawk and TV analyst Eddie Olczyk, who talked Monday morning about Panarin on WSCR 670-AM.

“For any player — let alone a young player — when you're not used to going through long stretches without scoring a goal, you start pressing, you try to do a little bit too much, you start trying to pick corners,” Olczyk said. “His 2 goals (vs. Edmonton) were a thing of beauty, and you could just see the relief that was on his face and the way he was playing the rest of the game.”

Together again

Panarin was reunited with Kane and Artem Anisimov in the win over the Oilers, and their line scored all 4 Hawks goals. This has been a recurring theme as the trio has been nothing short of spectacular, accounting for 20 of the team's 39 goals on the season.

“A world-class line,” NHL Network's Kevin Weekes said in the station's studio Sunday. “This is a line that really has a lot of opposing teams in fits because there's no way to defend against them. … The Edmonton Oilers had no answer (and) that's not an indictment on the Oilers because I don't know that anybody in the NHL has that answer quite yet.”

In many ways, that's an amazing fact since Kane, Anisimov and Panarin have been together for just 15 games. A huge key to their success lies in the fact that Kane and Panarin have clicked on and off the ice, despite Panarin barely speaking a lick of English.

“It's fun coming to the rink, hanging out with him … just messing around with him,” Kane said a few weeks ago. “He almost feels like a little brother to me the way he is around here now. He's fun to tease and pick on a little bit, kind of like Sharpie (Patrick Sharp) would have been with me my first couple years too.

“And he's a great hockey player, so that adds to the excitement level.”

Panarin has 15 points, which puts him on an 82-point pace. Kane sits at 23, a 126-point pace.

All that means is Panarin is an early candidate for the Calder Trophy (top rookie) and Kane for the Hart Trophy (MVP).

And who knows? Maybe Panarin will give Kane a run for his money one day for the latter award.

“He's got a bright future,” Kane said. “He works, not only on the ice, but also off the ice as well to make sure he's ready to play.

“The more he gets experience and the more he gets confidence, you're only going to see his game grow. It's scary to see where that could be.”

• Follow John's Hawks reports on Twitter @johndietzdh.