Blackhawks' Patrick Kane Found His Postseason Game, But Is It Too Late?

Six games into the Blackhawks' 2020 postseason Patrick Kane finally produced near the level we're accustomed to.

Through his first five postseason games at Edmonton, Kane only had four points (one goal, three assists), with zero points and a +/- rating of -2 against Vegas in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs first round series.

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Game 2 against the Golden Knights on Thursday featured a bounce-back performance from Kane, as well as Corey Crawford, and a much better effort from the Hawks across the board, but it wasn't enough to even up the series. Instead, they lost 4-3 in overtime to trail in the series 2-0.

The good news is that Kane is looking like himself, picking up three assists in the second period of Game 2 and helping the Hawks exit the second frame tied 3-3.

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First, Kane assisted on Blackhawks rookie forward Kirby Dach's first NHL playoff goal, passing the puck to Calvin de Haan, who fed Dach to cut the Golden Knights' lead to 2-1 at 3:17 of the second period.

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Then, Showtime picked up the primary helper on Dominik Kubalik's power-play goal that tied it 2-2, for the rookie's fourth goal in six postseason contests.

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Late in the second, trailing 3-2, Alex DeBrincat passed it to Kane, who fed Dylan Strome in front of the crease to tie it 3-3 with 14 seconds remaining in the period for Strome's second postseason goal.

With Kane's third assist in the game, he passed Bobby Hull (129) for third in most playoff points in Hawks history with 130. Denis Savard is in second with 145 and Stan Mikita is No. 1 with 150.

"Well, I've been fortunate to play on some amazing teams. And I guess when you have some deep runs in the playoffs, you're going to have the chance to put up numbers and points when you're an offensive guy," Kane said following Thursday's loss. "So I appreciate those teams I've been on, trying to do the same thing here with this team."

The bad news for this Blackhawks team is that they're trailing seemingly one of, if not the best, teams in the playoffs 2-0. The good news is Kane has begun to find his game again and that three assists still doesn't cut it for his potential.

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He almost had a goal in the first period on a Hawks' power play but hit the post after beating Robin Lehner five-hole.

If Chicago is able to put together a better effort and play their game closer to the full 60 minutes (pending overtime), Kane may be able to ride some momentum and put them over the top to make the series interesting in Game 3. He's been known to deliver on big stages in key moments.

"I think we got a good group," Kane said. "I think we proved it all year when we played in tough situations, faced some adversity that we were able to come back, we're able to work our way out of it. This isn't a team that's going to give up and I think we're in a situation here where we're coming into a day off then a back-to-back situation and we feel we got a young team with some fresh legs, so hopefully that can be used to our advantage."

Blackhawks' Patrick Kane found his postseason game, but is it too late? originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

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