Patrick Kane returns to lineup, and will look to help snap losing streak against Sabres

Patrick Kane is back in the Chicago Blackhawks lineup after missing the last three game with an upper-body injury.

The Blackhawks announced they officially activated him off of injured reserve and he will be in the lineup to face the Buffalo Sabres tonight (Nov. 12). He is slotted in on the second line with Anton Frondell and Andrew Mangiapane.

Kane can bring needed boost to lineup

Kane suffered an upper-body injury when the Blackhawks faced the Colorado Avalanche on Nov. 2, but it looked like he was making progress in coming back. Yesterday at practice (Nov. 11), Kane was skating with the main team, but in a non-contact jersey. Head coach Jeff Blashill still called him day-to-day.

But at morning skate on Nov. 12, Blashill said Kane was "hopeful" to return against the Sabres.

Kane also spoke at morning skate and said, "Yeah, I feel good. It's never fun missing games, right? So, it was three, three and a half games, and it feels like it's been like a month, right? So, exciting to get back. I'm not sure what the decision is yet, or what I gotta do now, but we'll go talk to the right people and figure it out."

It will be a big boost for the Blackhawks to get Kane back. Captain Connor Bedard said, "I mean, it goes without saying, he's one of the heartbeats of this team. The guy that we lean on so much on and off the ice. And the biggest thing is we obviously hope he's fine and hope he's ready to go as soon as possible. But it's a huge loss. He's Patrick Kane, so it goes without saying, and we hope he's back soon."

The corresponding moves in the lineup were that Teuvo Teräväinen and Dillon Boucher were the healthy scratches.

The Blackhawks are looking for any kind of spark to break their six-game losing streak, and even though Kane only has one goal in 15 games, his nine points are third on the team.

Kane said about watching from afar, "I feel like there's times in the game where we're doing some good things, right? So it's like the potential and the opportunity, the capability is there to do it as a team, right? It's just... it's a tough league, and you play against Colorado, Florida, Tampa, and Carolina, and don't have a full lineup. It's tough, right? So that's like a gauntlet of four games, and those teams are obviously top of the league, and teams we're trying to strive to get to. So sometimes it's definitely a wake-up call. But at the same time, like I said, I thought we did some good things throughout the game, too. Just gotta sustain it and find a way to do that for longer periods of the game."

Having Kane back can bring new life to the offense because he is one of their best playmakers. Frondell is one of their more skilled shooters, and Mangiapane can bring tenacity to that line.

They're hoping that line can find some chemistry to help snap their losing streak.

Furthermore, Kane has done well against his hometown team, the Sabres, with 39 career points in 35 games.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow