Patrick Kane on fire as Chicago Blackhawks nail must-win victory over Los Angeles Kings
Defending champions win 4-3 to take series to a decisive seventh game
Patrick Kane has made a habit of raising his game for the play-offs but even his teammates were left shaking their heads in amazement after his stellar display for the Chicago Blackhawks.
In a must-win game six for Chicago against the Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference finals, the right wing recorded one assist and scored twice, his final goal breaking a 3-3 tie with just 3:45 minutes remaining at a stunned Staples Centre.
Defending champions Blackhawks held on to win 4-3 and will now head home for the decisive game seven (tomorrow morning, Hong Kong time) when the eventual winners will advance to meet the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup finals.
It's amazing what [Kane] can do in these big games; when our season is on the line and nobody else seems to be able to do it the same way he does it
"It's amazing what he can do in these big games; when our season is on the line and nobody else seems to be able to do it the same way he does it," Chicago forward Jonathan Toews said of Kane.
Kane, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner last season as the most valuable player of the Stanley Cup play-offs, had been strangely subdued for the first four games of this series against the Kings, but then regained form as the Blackhawks won the next two. "We get the privilege of playing with a guy like that every day and seeing what he can do," Chicago defenceman Duncan Keith said of Kane.
A native of Buffalo, New York, Kane was drafted first overall in 2007 after an outstanding junior career and was named the NHL's rookie of the year in 2008.
He won a silver medal with the American team at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, then his first Stanley Cup with Chicago later that same year, scoring the championship-clinching goal in overtime against the Philadelphia Flyers.