Dec. 02--Not long after extending his point streak to 19 games during the Blackhawks' loss to the Kings on Saturday night in Los Angeles, Patrick Kane ended a TV interview at intermission by acknowledging his father back home in Buffalo, N.Y.
It seems Kane's run of points that stands as the longest in NHL history by an American-born player has left Pat Sr. in a penalty box of emotion, according to the dynamic winger.
"My mom said he got a little emotional after the 18 games, so I thought I'd throw him a little shout-out," Kane said before the Hawks' 2-1 loss to the Wild on Tuesday night at the United Center. "He enjoys that stuff. He deserves a lot of credit too. He helped me with a lot of my career."
Let the water works continue to flow as the streak reached 20 when Kane scored on a power play during the second period of Tuesday's game. The winger found himself all alone in the right circle after a terrific feed from Duncan Keith, and Kane took his time before sending a shot toward goaltender Devan Dubnyk. Kane didn't get all of it, but the puck managed to find its way through Devan Dubnyk's pads.
When you're hot, you're hot.
"(Keith) made a good pass to me," Kane said. "I was trying to go high, actually, and I kind of flubbed the shot and I was lucky it went in."
Kane moved within one game of tying the all-time franchise mark of 21 consecutive games with a point set by Bobby Hull from Dec. 5, 1971 to Jan. 23, 1972. Kane has 12 goals and 20 assists in the run. The last time he was held off the scoresheet was Oct. 15 against the Capitals.
Kane, who on Tuesday was named the NHL's First Star for November, can match the franchise record when the Hawks face the Senators on Thursday night in Ottawa. But he has a lot of work to do if he's going to challenge the league mark of 51 set by Wayne Gretzky to start the 1983-84 season.
"We all know how special of a player he was and how many records he has that won't be touched and won't be broken," Kane said. "That's probably just another one."
