The 4th to 400
Kane joins Hull, Mikita and Larmer as the 4th player in history to score 400 goals for Hawks
Patrick Kane joined the 400goal club Sunday night, an exclusive membership open to only three other Blackhawks players in franchise history: Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita and Steve Larmer.
In the middle of the third period, Kane made a hesitation move and sniped a shot past Detroit Red Wings goalie Thomas Greiss during the Hawks’ 7-2 win at an empty United Center. Kane said he wished fans and his family could’ve been there to witness the milestone.
“It would be nice to have my parents here, for sure. Amanda and my son. But that’s the way it is in this world right now,” said Kane, who was assisted by Alex DeBrincat. “So I guess tonight it was just nice to enjoy it with my teammates, and they seemed pretty excited for me.”
Kane’s first NHL point (an assist in 2007) also came against the Red Wings. As for his goals, he has been at different stages in his career when reaching those century markers.
100: Kane scored his 100th goal during a 6-3 win over the San Jose Sharks on March 14, 2011. The defending champion Hawks — the first of three Stanley Cups with Kane — would go on to finish third in the division and lose in the first round of the playoffs.
At 22, Kane became the thirdyoungest player in franchise history to hit the milestone after Jeremy Roenick and Bobby Hull.
200: On Jan. 21, 2015, Kane beat Arizona Coyotes goalie Mike Smith in the second period for a goal on a night he also had two
assists.
Kane said at the time: “I was talking to (Patrick Sharp) actually the shift before and I was telling him that he assisted on my first goal, he assisted on my 100th goal and (I said), ‘We’ll see if you’ll assist on my 200th goal.’ He gave it to me in the defensive zone and we ended up scoring a goal and we were kind of laughing about it after. Good little story we’ll remember.”
The Hawks finished that season hoisting their third Stanley Cup in six seasons.
300: Kane’s goal against New Jersey Devils goalie Cory Schneider was the Hawks’ lone marker in a 4-1 loss on Dec. 23, 2017. The season ended with the Hawks’ worst points percentage (.463) and first lastplace division finish in the Kane era.
“It’s nice to get it out of the way,” Kane said about his 300th goal. “It looked
like that could’ve been a big goal for us. … I thought it was a big goal at the time, to be honest with you.”
400: Kane’s third-period goal Sunday was his 11th of what has been a surprising season for the Hawks, who improved to 12-7-4 — good enough for third place in the Central Division. Kane is tied with DeBrincat for the team lead in goals and is far and away the points leader with 34.
“The biggest thing is once you start reaching these type of milestones, 400 goals and 1,000 games coming up, it leaves you wanting more,” the 32year-old Kane said. “It’s exciting to achieve them and nice to have these types of milestones.
“Probably means I’ve played a while, but you just want to keep getting better and keep trying to help the team as best you can.”
Ryan Carpenter, who scored two goals Sunday night, said Kane always seems to come up with the big goal.
“Kaner’s been here for all those Cups, and he’s the face of our team and the reason we keep games close. … So tonight was just a night about him to celebrate his career and look back a lot.
“It’s nice just to be a part of it. I was here last year too for (Kane’s) 1,000th point, so it’s amazing the career he’s had and nice to have that kind of veteran leadership too. He goes out there and leads by example. He comes to play every night.”
March
Some Big Ten basketball teams will be cruising into the month. Some will be frantically spending the first few days working on their resumes.
Teams such as Michigan, Ohio State, Illinois and Iowa are safely in the NCAA Tournament. Indiana is considered a “last four in” team, while Minnesota and Michigan State are on the “first four out” list.
The last few regularseason games will have implications for several teams.
Here are three Big Ten takeaways. has finally arrived.
1. Michigan is proving it’s as good as the best in the nation:
The knock on Michigan this season, apparently, was that the Wolverines weren’t Gonzaga or Baylor.
Michigan (18-1, 13-1) was deemed a step below as the undefeated Bulldogs and Bears were considered in a class of their own. Well, Baylor lost to Kansas for its first ding Saturday. And Michigan keeps on winning, including Saturday’s victory against Indiana.
Michigan is now No. 2 in the NET rankings and in KenPom’s ratings. The Wolverines earned the same slot in The Associated Press Top 25 on Monday.
It could be argued the Wolverines were as good as Baylor — or better? — all along. Or at least that the Wolverines haven’t been second tier.
Michigan and Baylor now both have one Quadrant 1 loss, but the Wolverines have two more Quad 1 victories than the Bears and two more Quad 2 wins. (Both teams had COVID-19 layoffs.)
The Wolverines own the No. 5 adjusted offense and No. 4 adjusted defense, according to KenPom. Their defensive numbers are better than both Gonzaga’s and Baylor’s, and their strength of schedule (16th) is significantly better than Gonzaga’s (105th) or Baylor’s (99th) too.
Michigan has a chance to wrap up the Big Ten regular season with a bow. Beating Illinois, which is No. 6 in the NET rankings and No. 4 in the AP poll, on Tuesday night would bolster the Wolverines’ chances of what seems to be an assured No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
They’ll put a seven-game winning streak — including victories against three ranked opponents — on the line against the Illini at the Crisler Center. long
2. Michigan State had a strange week:
The Spartans finally got on track… only to derail again.
They beat two top-five opponents — 81-72 against Illinois on Tuesday and 71-67 against Ohio State on Thursday — as part of a three-game winning streak. They must have felt like they were climbing out of the hole they buried themselves in this season.
“We’re not safe in anything yet,” coach Tom Izzo said.
He was right. Michigan State (13-10, 710) stumbled Sunday at Maryland in a 73-55 loss, unable to recover from an 11-0 deficit to start the game while allowing the Terrapins to hit 50% of their 3-pointers. The Spartans scored only 25 points in the first half.
“That was the worst first
six minutes that we played all year,” Izzo said of the sluggish start. “Maybe in a couple of years. I mean, I just thought we were standing around.”
This means the Spartans aren’t in the clear yet when it comes to making the NCAA Tournament. ESPN’s Bracketology has Michigan State as one of its “first four out.”
The Spartans need to pull off a major win — or a couple of miracles — to end the regular season. They already beat Indiana 78-71
on Feb. 20 behind 27 points from Aaron Henry, and now they get the Hoosiers’ best shot at payback Tuesday.
They then have the misfortune — or perhaps opportunity — of ending the regular season with a homeand-home against Michigan on Thursday and Sunday.
There’s work to be done.
3. Maryland made an impressive comeback:
No, not against Michigan State. The Terrapins controlled that game mostly from start
to finish.
Their comeback kudos are deserved for resuscitating their season.
Maryland (15-10, 9-9) started its Big Ten season 1-5 with double-digit losses to Rutgers and Iowa.
But the Terrapins getting it together at right time.
They seem to have done enough to earn an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament. ESPN projects them as a No. 9 seed, safely in.
Maryland has won five straight games with its final are the
two regular-season games against bottom-tier Big Ten opponents: at Northwestern and against Penn State.
“We knew we had to make a step offensively, and we’ve done that,” coach Mark Turgeon said.
The Terrapins shot at least 46.8% in four of the five wins, and guard Eric Ayala has led them in scoring in three straight games.
“I didn’t see this coming this quickly in five games, getting to this point,” Turgeon said. “But we’ve made a huge jump, obviously.”