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The Chicago Blackhawks grabbed a road win in the Western Conference Finals, defeating a Los Angeles Kings club that had not lost at the Staples Center since March 23rd. That’s the big storyline coming out of that game, which gives the Hawks a 3-1 edge in the series.
There are other storylines as well. The defense was outstanding without Duncan Keith, with the obvious exception of Sheldon Brookbank and his minus-2 rating. There’s also the matter of Patrick Kane, who was extremely noticeable in this game, more so than he has typically been throughout this series.
Kane has been criticized for his lack of production throughout these playoffs, but particularly against the Kings in this conference final series. To a certain point, that criticism is justified. Kane is a superstar with only 11 points so far during these playoffs, in 16 games overall.
For a guy who tallied 55 points during the shortened 48-game regular season, that’s less than you’re hoping for. Especially considering the fact that he went six consecutive games without scoring to start these playoffs, scored in back-to-back games, before promptly going another seven without tickling the twine. Until Thursday night.
Kane found the back of the net on the goal that evened things up at two for the Blackhawks. They’d go on to win 3-2 on a Marian Hossa goal early in the third period. But the curious thing about Kane’s goal, as well as the majority of the night, was who he was on the ice with.
When Kane scored, he was on the ice with Jonathan Toews and Bryan Bickell, making up the top line. Previously, Kane had been skating minutes with old Michal Handzus, who has decent hands, but moves at the pace of a glacier. That didn’t really afford Kane any scoring opportunities, hence him being invisible so far during the series.
Next to Toews and Bickell, the latter of which has been an offensive force during these playoffs, Kane saw the game open up more for him. He was able to possess the puck more and generated scoring chances. He doesn’t have the size of a guy like Marian Hossa. Therefore, he needs that extra space. Playing with Toews opens his game up, while Hossa is able to power through opposing players in his own.
If the Hawks want to continue their postseason success, then this Toews and Kane combination is something that needs to become more permanent. We saw it give Kane a spark on Thursday night. If these two get rolling skating with each other, which is something that neither has really done to this point in the postseason, this Blackhawks squad becomes that much more dangerous.
