Patrick Kane’s five biggest goals with the Chicago Blackhawks

There is no doubt that Patrick Kane is one of the best hockey players ever. Many would argue that he is the best American-born player of all time, and could certainly be considered one of the greatest players period.

When the Chicago Blackhawks drafted Patrick Kane first overall in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, it was always assumed that he would be a great player. However, he has become much more than that. Kane is the complete package, a superstar hockey player that’s been the face of the Blackhawks franchise for over a decade.

From his flashy dekes to his top corner snipes, Kane is a goaltender’s absolute worst nightmare. He’s scored at least 20 goals in every season he’s played and led the league in 2016 with 106 points, winning the Art Ross Trophy.

Besides his Art Ross in 2016, Kane has won numerous other awards and pieces of hardware. Obviously, he’s a three-time Stanley Cup Champion, and in 2016 also took home the Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP and the Ted Lindsay Award as the most outstanding player.

He won the Calder Trophy in 2007 as rookie of the year and has been chosen for the NHL All-Star Game nine times. This isn’t even counting his international play, where Kane won a silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics and was the MVP at the 2018 Ice Hockey World Championship.

All in all, Kane is an icon of Chicago sports, a magician with the puck, and one of the best hockey players to ever play for the Blackhawks. Many of the Hawks’ long playoff runs were helped immensely by Kane, and he has directly contributed to a number of series-winning goals.

Today is Patrick’s birthday, and he turns 32 years old. In honor of Kaner’s birthday, let’s break down the best of his plays. Here are his five biggest goals with the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Blackhawks were on the verge of elimination in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2016. They had won the Stanley Cup the previous season and were now looking at a first-round exit. Patrick Kane would make sure that didn’t happen.

In a back and forth game, the Hawks looked somewhat lackluster after entering Game 5 down 3-1 to their archrivals, the St. Louis Blues. While goalie Corey Crawford played well, the Blues tied the game at 3 with just over five minutes remaining in regulation.

In the first overtime, the Hawks had a number of decent chances, but Blues goalie Brian Elliot was able to keep the puck out of the net. The game eventually went into the second overtime, where it wouldn’t take long for #88 to make an impact.

Kane took the puck in the slot, made a few nice moves around Blues defenseman before firing the puck on net. Although the initial save was made by Elliot, the puck bounced to the side of the net where Kane poked the puck in on the wraparound to win the game for the Blackhawks.

The double-overtime winner would keep the Hawks alive in the series, although they would eventually fall 3-2 in Game 7 to end their season. Despite this, Kane came in clutch again when he was needed the most, and gave his team an aptly-timed boost.

In what would become an indelible part of Blackhawks’ lore, Kane was a key part of a raucous, tumultuous game against the Nashville Predators that saw Chicago pull off a victory under the unlikeliest of circumstances.

The Blackhawks had decent odds to win the Stanley Cup going into the 2010 season. Despite this, it looked early on like Chicago was about to disappoint all the people who had bet on them to end their Cup drought.

The team was down 4-3 with less than a minute to go in regulation. A loss would give the Predators a 3-2 series lead going into Game 6 in Nashville, where they could win the series. Things were pretty grim in the United Center. It was made worse by the fact that Marian Hossa was serving a five-minute major penalty for boarding.

With the seconds ticking down, the Hawks took the puck into the Predators zone short-handed. A first shot rang off of the post, but Chicago was able to keep the puck in the zone. The team got themselves back to even strength by pulling the goalie, and soon a loose puck found itself onto Kane’s stick.

#88 slipped the puck into the open net with 13 seconds remaining in the game. The goal would completely deflate the Predators. In overtime, the Blackhawks came out flying, and just seconds after getting out of the box, Hossa would pot the game-winner. Chicago would seal the series in their next game, and go onto win the Stanley Cup.

Game 5 has been cemented as one of the greatest playoff games in Blackhawks history. A season that could’ve ended in disaster was saved by Patrick Kane, and the team never looked back en route to Lord Stanley.

In 2015, the Blackhawks were looking to win their third championship in six seasons, cementing themselves as a modern-day dynasty. To do that, they’d have to defeat their toughest challenger yet in the Stanley Cup Final: the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The 2014-15 Blackhawks were perhaps the deepest of this modern era, and were no doubt heavily favored to win the Stanley Cup from the start. After easily downing the Nashville Predators and sweeping Minnesota, the Blackhawks beat Anaheim in a back and forth series to secure a trip to the Final.

The Tampa Bay Lightning were led by Steven Stamkos, and also had up-and-coming stars in Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov. This was going to be a challenge for the Hawks, but in the end, it was one that the team was definitely up to.

The Blackhawks went into Game 6 leading the series 3-2, giving them the chance to win the Cup on home ice, a feat they hadn’t accomplished since 1938. The game was mostly deadlocked through the first half until Duncan Keith found the back of the net at the end of the second period.

Still, Chicago was only leading 1-0, and Tampa Bay could’ve easily tied the game and send it to overtime. That was, until Kane found himself on a 2-on-1 with veteran Brad Richards. Goalie Ben Bishop was powerless to stop Kane’s rocket of a one-timer, and the puck fired into the open net to give the Blackhawks a 2-0 lead with just over five minutes remaining.

In the end, Tampa Bay could muster no offensive answer, and Chicago held on to capture their third Stanley Cup in six seasons. If Kane hadn’t come in clutch with his late goal, perhaps the Lightning could’ve tied the game, or even won it. Thankfully, thanks to the dutiful performance of the Blackhawks’ star, we never got the chance to find out, as the team was much more apt to hoist Lord Stanley.

There was only one choice for this top spot. On a warm June night in Philadelphia, Patrick Kane ended a 49-year championship drought, cemented himself in hockey history, and opened the floodgates for a decade of excellence in the Windy City.

The Blackhawks were riding high heading into the 2010 Stanley Cup Final. They’d just swept the San Jose Sharks to win the Western Conference and were facing a seventh-seeded Philadelphia Flyers team that most people thought didn’t have any chance of winning.

Despite the seemingly lopsided comparison of the teams, the Flyers were still determined to show that they weren’t a fluke, and were there to win. Games 1 and 2 saw the Blackhawks take a 2-0 series lead, but that quickly evaporated after Philly won the next two games. A decisive Chicago victory in Game 5 gave them the chance to close the series out in Game 6.

The Flyers held on as long as possible, taking the game to overtime and giving it their all to pull out the victory. However, this was not to be, as Patrick Kane threw a shot on net from the oddest angle, just below the goal line. From there, #88 watched as the puck slipped under the pads of the goalie, buried itself under the lining of the net, and ended a drought that had lasted half a century.

It is still not known for certain what actually happened to that game-winning puck. Numerous rumors float around, from Flyers players taking the puck to one of the referees grabbing it. No matter what happened to the physical evidence, one thing is for certain: this is the most monumental goal in Blackhawks history, and who better to score it than the face of the franchise?

Patrick Kane has scored numerous big goals during his career, but none have been as historic, memorable, or thrilling as this one. It’s hard to believe that this happened a decade ago, and yet many Hawks fans (myself included) can remember it like it was yesterday. Patrick Kane was an indelible part of the Chicago Blackhawks then, and hopefully, he will continue to be for a long time