27 December 2023
Patrick Kane is back from a long injury absence, and scary as ever.
The first overall pick in the 2007 first-year player draft and three-time Stanley Cup winner with the Chicago Blackhawks signed a one-year, $2.75 million contract with Detroit on Nov. 19. He’ll play Wednesday against the Wild at Xcel Energy Center.
“They welcomed me with open arms to be honest with you, and let me come in and find my way,” Kane said. “It took me a few games, for sure.”
It doesn’t seem like it. Returning from hip surgery performed June 1, Kane, 35, has five goals and 10 points in 10 games with his new team — although the Red Wings were 2-7-1 in those games.
“Sometimes it’s really hard to jump in, you know, in December to catch up to speed,” Wild coach John Hynes said after Wednesday’s morning skate. “But he’s such an elite thinker, elite player, you can tell that he did his work prior to coming into Detroit. He’s playing really well.”
In 57 career games against Minnesota, Kane has 24 goals and 53 points.
Hynes and Kane have a relationship dating back to 2006-08, when Hynes was Kane’s U17 and U18 head coach in the U.S. National Development Program.
“He was really, really good for me. I think he helped me kind of just grow up a bit and become more of a man,” said Kane, whose 1,247 career points rank second only to Mike Modano’s 1,374 for an American NHL player.
“I didn’t even make the tryout camp, and I was coming into a team a couple of weeks after the season,” Kane added, “and he kind of let me play my game and run with my game and just be the best I could at it. So, I have a lot of respect for him, and am just really happy to see him doing well.”
The Wild return from the NHL’s three-day holiday break on a three-game winning streak, and 10-3-0 since Hynes became the team’s head coach on Nov. 27, the day after Minnesota’s 4-1 loss at Detroit — the last loss in a seven-game skid (0-5-2) that cost Dean Evason his job.
“We’re definitely more confident,” veteran Wild wing Ryan Hartman said, “At that time, teams were scoring on us first, and we were chasing the game a lot. It’s been different as of the last (13) games. We’ve chased it, but we’ve also found ways to come back and make it a game. So, we want to start on time tonight.”
The Wild are one of three NHL teams unbeaten when they have a first-period lead, 10-0-0. The other two are Washington and Detroit, both 9-0.
Hartman: ‘I’ll play goalie’
Hartman was set to return Wednesday after missing two games with an upper-body injury. In his last two games, he scored goals at Pittsburgh and Boston.
“Anytime is frustrating to not be able to play, regardless of how things are going,” Hartman said. “It’s something I tried playing through for a couple games, and just at the end I had to take a few to let it heal.”
In that 4-1 loss at Detroit, Hartman was penalized for tripping Alex DeBrincat, and then suspended two games for a slew foot — the team’s two first games under Hynes, each a convincing win. When he returned, Hartman — who started the season as the team’s top center — played on the fourth line with Brandon Duhaime and Connor Dewar.
Coach and player had a meeting in Vancouver during a four-game road trip.
“He was really mature about it,” Hynes said. “We had a good talk, and I think probably the most important thing was just that he knew that we knew as new coach … what his upside is as a player, and I think once he understood that there was clarity to that, he was good.”
Hartman was playing on the second line in place of injured Mats Zuccarello when he scored his last two goals.
“We were winning hockey games. I mean, I’ll play goalie if we’re winning hockey games,” Hartman said. “I talked to John about it, we both were understanding that as long as we’re winning, things are working.
“Playing with both the Dews, they bring a lot of things to the game. They remind me of myself. We played great together. It’s gonna happen throughout the season, everyone’s gonna have to play with everybody at some point. So just whatever name is called, go out there and play wherever you’re put.”
Injury report
Jared Spurgeon went through his second practice with the team on Wednesday but wasn’t ready to return from a lower-body injury that has cost him six games. … Hynes said Zuccarello (upper body) has started skating but Jonas Brodin, on long-term injured reserve with an upper-body injury, has not.
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