Dec. 09--Coach Joel Quenneville did not even try to dance around the issue.
On Sunday against the Jets, the Blackhawks were trying especially hard to get Patrick Kane a point so he could set the franchise record for a point in consecutive games.
On Tuesday night in the Hawks' 4-1 victory over the Predators, Quenneville expected the Hawks to take some of the focus off Kane.
"I would hope it's a little more back to business and playing the game," Quenneville said. "Kaner has a way of finding the puck and there's nothing wrong with giving him the puck as much as possible. (But Sunday) I thought we were over-passing or taking good looks away."
The Hawks more or less stuck to that strategy Tuesday, but it went out the window when they had a two-goal lead late in the game and the Predators had pulled goaltender Pekka Rinne. Then it was time to get the puck to Kane, who fired home an empty-netter at 18 minutes, 24 seconds of the third to extend his streak to 23. It was also the 600th point of Kane's career.
"To be honest with you, I wasn't thinking about it too much until the end," Kane said. "You hear the crowd cheering and you know they're looking for something. That's when you want to get something at the end."
Kane fired home the empty-netter from the Hawks side of the neutral zone. On Sunday, it was Artemi Panarin who scored an empty-netter from around the same spot on the ice after Kane fed him with a hand pass.
It capped a fairly good night overall for the Hawks. Corey Crawford had one of his best games of the season with 36 saves. Rookie center Dennis Rasmussen scored a goal in his NHL debut. Andrew Shaw had a goal and an assist and defenseman David Rundblad tallied an assist in his first game since Oct. 29. Meanwhile, Teuvo Teravainen continued his strong play and scored for the second consecutive game.
Even though the Hawks wanted to play a normal game, Teravainen said there was focus on getting Kane the puck late.
"Of course, a little bit," Teravainen said. "Especially with the empty net we try to give him the puck and he can score and we get the apple. ... It's a pretty special moment with the streak going on."
That sentiment -- that Kane's streak is something special -- seems to carry across the Hawks room. It might seem like a burden for the Hawks to help get Kane a point each night, but that's not how they have viewed it.
"When guys are doing something special like that it kind of brings everyone together and gives you that extra boost and momentum for your team." Crawford said.
And it doesn't diminish Kane's accomplishment that he extended the streak thanks to two empty-net goals the last two games. From Crawford's view, Tuesday's goal had a high degree of difficulty.
"Streaks like that you need those type of points to keep it going," Crawford said. "Especially nowadays, goals and assists are tough to come by, to keep him going you just have to pick those up. That wasn't an easy shot either. ... It kind of rolled up on his stick and it was on edge when he shot it."
But it found its way in the net, and the streak lives.
Chicago Tribune's Chris Kuc contributed.
chine@tribpub.com
Chris Hine's three stars
1. Corey Crawford, Blackhawks: Played one of his best games in recording 36 saves.
2. Andrew Shaw, Blackhawks: Tallied a goal and an assist.
3. Teuvo Teravainen, Blackhawks: Had a goal for second straight game.
Up next
At Predators, 7 p.m. Thursday; CSN.
