Seven- goal surge snaps home skid
7Blackhawks score, including Kane, who totals 4 points in rout
The MVP chants for Patrick Kane get a little louder with each game and each Blackhawks victory these days. It’s that time of year.
The Hawks’ star winger was in the middle of it all Monday, with a goal and three assists for a four- point night in a 7- 2 rout of the Toronto Maple Leafs before 21,767 at the United Center that snapped a three- game losing streak.
Kane’s big night kept him on track for the Hart Trophy. His 82 points are 14 better than Jamie Benn of the Stars for the league lead. His 34 goals are one behind league leader Alex Ovechkin of the Capitals. And his 48 assists are four behind Senators’ defenseman Erik Karlsson.
“It’s special. It kind of takes you back a second, just to listen to it and enjoy it,” said Kane, who was serenaded with the “MVP” chant during his on- ice postgame interview. “I don’t even know if I’m the MVP of our team. I think [ Corey] Crawford’s had a great season. But to hear them say that and to hear the support is definitely pretty cool.”
Kane was just part of a dominant effort that the Hawks ( 37- 18- 5) needed badly after losing three consecutive games at home. After Brandon Mashinter fired a wrist shot past James Reimer for a 1- 0 lead just 2: 33 into the game, Kane assisted on Andrew Shaw’s power- play goal in front that made it 2- 0; had a secondary assist on Brent Seabrook’s power- play goal that made it 3- 0; fed Artemi Panarin with a nifty pass for a goal that made it 4- 0; then scored on a mini- breakaway off a pass from Artem Anisimov to make it 5- 0 at 4: 51 of the third period.
It was a night for rejuvenation. The Hawks, playing without Marian Hossa, who is out for at least two weeks with a lower- body injury, were 3- for- 5 on the power play and 3- for- 4 on the penalty kill, allowing only a g arbage goal that made it 7- 2 with 4: 52 to play. Teuvo Teravainen and Viktor Svedberg also scored goals. And Scott Darling stopped the first 31 shots — including a spectacular sprawling glove save on a point- blank shot by Nick Spaling in the second period when the Hawks were up 3- 0 — and 35 of 37 overall.
It can’t be ignored that the Hawks were facing the right team at the right time. The struggling Maple Leafs ( 20- 26- 9) are in the formative stages under coach Mike Babcock. They are 4- 11- 2 in their last 17 games.
But Kane, who knows as well as anyone the impact of confidence in the NHL no matter what the circumstance, was having none of it.
“It’s tough to win in the NHL,” he said. “It’s not like many other professional leagues where you can look at an opponent and say it’s an easy opponent. On any given night any team can win in this league. We know that. We knew coming into this game we didn’t want to take this team lightly. I thought we did a good job of that.”
The trick — and one the Hawks have pulled off before — is to parlay the momentum of a rout against a struggling team into a big run against better teams. Nine of the Hawks’ next 10 opponents currently are in the playoffs.
“Anytime you score that many goals in this league, it’s going to be good for confidence, good for the team, Kane said. Hopefully we can build off it a little bit — no matter who we’re playing against.”