Comments (...)(MCT) — DETROIT — A quick grin flashed across Patrick Kane’s face when he was asked if a seed of doubt had entered his mind as the clock ticked down and the Blackhawks’ historic streak was in jeopardy of ending.
“Maybe you might think about it, but I think a lot of us want to be the guy to either tie it up or go and win it,” Kane said.
The winger was that guy on both counts.
The Hawks’ record-setting run to start the season without a regulation loss stands at 22 games after they rallied to defeat the Red Wings 2-1 in a shootout Sunday at Joe Louis Arena.
Kane scored the tying goal with 2 minutes, 2 seconds remaining in the third period and then put on a dazzling display of stick-handling moves in the shootout to beat Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard and give the Hawks their ninth consecutive win and make them 19-0-3 on the season.
“It’s just pretty amazing,” said Kane, who took a pass from Viktor Stalberg and scored with the Hawks on the power play to help them extend their streak of games with at least one point to 28 dating to last season — tied for second-longest in NHL history. “We’ve talked about the resiliency with this team the past month. It seems like we just keep finding ways to either keep ourselves in the game or find a way to win it at the end. (It was) just another fun afternoon here.”
Kane’s heroics were one thing, but the play of Hawks goalie Corey Crawford eclipsed them as he turned aside wave after wave of Red Wings chances to outduel Howard. After Crawford allowed a goal to Tomas Tatar early in the third, the goalie took his game to another level, including a highlight-reel glove save on Pavel Datsyuk a short time later that would have effectively ended things.
“We played solid again,” said Crawford, who finished with 32 saves in regulation and three in the shootout. “We didn’t give them much the first half of the game and we were able to get that fortunate bounce where they throw one over the glass (a penalty by Jonathan Ericsson). We were hungry, we were ready and Kane had a nice goal there.
“Games against (the Red Wings) are always good games. It’s two skilled teams that can create some chances. It’s nice to pull this one off.”
The Hawks’ nine-game winning streak ties a franchise record set Dec. 7-28, 2008, and they can eclipse it with a victory over the Wild on Tuesday night at the United Center. If the Hawks can match the effort they put forth against the Wings, that mark likely will fall.
“What a hockey game,” coach Joel Quenneville said of Sunday’s win. “The pace was tremendous and Crawford made some huge saves right after they went up 1-0 to keep at it one. Give the guys a lot of credit for the resiliency and perseverance. It was an amazing game.”
