Kane needs time to find chemistry with Rangers teammates
NEW YORK >> There were some glimpses.
It wasn’t all there just yet — certainly not in the New York Rangers’ disappointing 5-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators in front of a supercharged crowd at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night — but Patrick Kane’s team debut showed that, in time, he might just be the missing piece the group needs to get over the hump to play for a Stanley Cup.
But the biggest element of it all? Over the 34-year-old future Hall of Famer’s still very-apparent skill? Over the now stunning amount of talent that the Blueshirts now have as a whole, especially up front?
Time.
Kane and the Rangers travel to Boston to face the league-best Bruins in a matinee on Saturday afternoon, but then have four days to practice before their next game, something that can surely help build that chemistry with a still recently-overhauled lineup.
“Obviously, big game on Saturday, and then we’ve got a few days off, and it’ll be nice to get a couple practices with the guys, too,” Kane said in the Rangers’ locker room. “We have that game Saturday, and then I think we have four days between games, so it’ll be nice to settle in, kind of understand the way they play systematically with the puck, offensive zone, things like that. They haven’t given me too much yet with just telling me to go out there and play, but it’ll be nice to settle in and play a little bit better for my teammates.”
Statistically, it was a solid showing for the long-time Chicago Blackhawks standout, acquired in a long-anticipated trade on Tuesday; Kane had four shots on goal and recorded a minus-two plus/minus rating in 19:36 worth of ice time.
But it was on the power play, where Kane had 5:58 worth of time, where the team seemed particularly disjointed, as the magic he once had with former Blackhawks linemate Artemi Panarin was slow to form in their new home on Thursday.
“You try to remember your routes and everything,” Kane said. “It’s that chemistry you had six, seven years ago. I don’t think it’s something that’s going to happen overnight, but we’ll find it.”
On the flip side, things looked just fine for the Senators, who were under somewhat similar circumstances with their key trade acquisition, Jacob Chychrun, making his team debut on Thursday.
Just as it had done several days earlier in Montreal, Ottawa turned it on in the third period, using three tallies in the final frame to spoil Kane’s welcoming party. Derick Brassard, a former Rangers forward now with the Senators who was playing in his 1,000th NHL game, scored two goals in the win.
“I was just coming in and trying to play hard. I’m going to remember that for the rest of my life,” Brassard told reporters who went to the visiting dressing room after the game. “It was awesome. I was up early this morning, and my head was spinning around.”