What Patrick Kane said after scoring in 1st game back with Blackhawks

For the first time since February 22, 2023, Patrick Kane was back in a Chicago Blackhawks jersey on Tuesday night. The former first overall selection of the team in the 2007 NHL Draft did not wait to make an impact on his team. Kane scored for the Blackhawks in the third period against the Vegas Golden Knights.

The goal made it a one-goal contest, but the Blackhawks still lost the game 5-2. After the contest, Kane spoke about the goal and the game, per Tracey Myers of NHL.com.

“Obviously, your eyes get pretty wide when the puck goes by the defenseman and you’re coming in on a breakaway and chasing up to the puck. Just wanted to be patient with it, take my time, kind of make him make a move first and hang onto it,” Kane said. “Nice it worked out. Obviously, a pretty good feeling.”

Kane joined the Blackhawks in the 2007-08 season, playing 82 games with them that season. He would stay with the team for 1,161 games, the third most of all time. He scored 446 goals, with 779 assists, and 1,225 points. All are top-three marks in franchise history. He also won the Stanley Cup three times. He signed a two-year deal with the Blackhawks this offseason to return to the franchise. While he scored, it was not the start to the season he was looking for.

“Obviously a tough start. I think we got better as the game went on. Tough to give up one after we cut it to one,” said Kane. “I’m sure there are a bunch of lessons in there we can learn from. Obviously, Game 1, I think you take these games and try to learn from it and get better as a team. Obviously, they’re a great team, too, they’ve got a lot of great players, they know how to play, lot of pressure on the puck, tough to play against. Just got to find a way to get better and better as the season goes on here, but obviously a tough start.”

It was the eighth time in his career that he scored a goal in the Blackhawks’ opener. Kane also had four shots on goal while logging 21:36 of ice time in the contest. His coach, Jeff Blashill, was happy with how Kane played.

“He played pretty good. Obviously, the goal was great,” Blashill said. “Early on, we had those two penalties in the first so a bunch of guys didn’t play very much and that may have been part of us being out of rhythm a little bit. So, we have to make sure to do a better job. But overall, I thought he played pretty good.”

Kane and the Blackhawks return to the ice on Thursday against the Utah Mammoth.