A sense of urgency is the asset he wants his team to have.
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The answer: Loud. Kane pumped his fist toward the sea of red seated around him while he skated onto the ice during pregame festivities.
Toews is hoping what he saw Wednesday is a sign of that urgency growing on the Blackhawks quickly.
When the New York Rangers acquired Keith Yandle from the Arizona Coyotes at last season’s trade deadline, the consensus among fans and media was that the Rangers finally found the missing piece of their Stanley Cup championship puzzle. Plus, we’ll throw in a little hockey trivia that you can use to impress your puck-loving friends. League statistician Ron Andrews says that for the first time shots on goal will be tracked instead of saves by goaltenders. Maybe it’s the emotions of the evening, but the Blackhawks did not have the necessary jump and attention to detail to start this one tonight.
The Hawks seemed a little distracted, at least early in Wednesday’s game when they gave up three goals in the first period.
Alex Galchenyuk, Monday at TOR ($15) – Entering his fourth season in the league, Galchenyuk is shifting to the second-line center position – a significant positive for him. The 21-year-old winger played in only 34 games for Chicago last season and wound up with four goals and five assists before pouring it on in the postseason with four goals and six assists in 18 games. We have all the tangibles and intangibles.
Although the Lightning knows no losing Cup finalist has returned to the Finals the following season since Pittsburgh in 2009, it’s ready to buck the trend and get back to the top of hockey’s mountain.
For the first time, National Hockey League overtimes will feature 3-on-3 play.
The Rangers didn’t take long to respond, though, as Kevin Klein scored while the Rangers had an extra man for a delayed penalty to retake the lead. Babcock challenged Jeff Petry’s apparent goal in the second period, arguing that Tomas Plekanec interfered with Bernier.
But the Rangers’ speed created two goals in 2:23. This time around they can beat the Blackhawks, who are struggling to pay the price to keep champions around. “It’s a new element to the game that we’re going to have to get used to”.
Their skill was obvious. “If they do, then we’re all in trouble”. They attacked on their toes when before they were defending on their heels.
The Rangers’ best chance to restore the two-goal lead came with 4:15 left when Derek Stepan found Chris Kreider in the slot, but he fired high and wide.
It was with a childlike grin that Panarin, 23, dubbed “the Russian Patrick Kane”, celebrated the Hawks’ first goal of the season, potentially another sizable notch on the belt of Chicago general manager Stan Bowman, who has retooled the team with more and more expertise after each Stanley Cup, beginning with the great salary cap purge of 2010.
It was for his linemates as well. Kane has not been charged and has said he expects to be exonerated. Nobody was quite sure how that line would work mainly because Panarin, as skilled as he is, is a wild card as a rookie.
“To watch the banner go up is pretty awesome”, Jonathan Toews said before the game.
Exactly two months separated Kane from the Hamburg (N.Y.) Police Department confirming the Blackhawks right winger was being investigated for “an incident that allegedly occurred” at Kane’s home just outside of Buffalo on the weekend of August. 2.
The Blackhawks didn’t necessarily get their confidence and swagger Wednesday, because it’s hard to feel good about anything after a loss.
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Despite the addition of Saad, I don’t think Columbus will make the playoffs in 2015-16 – and if they do, they’ll likely just sneak in, and probably be quarter-final cannon fodder for someone.
