(Reuters)
BOSTON — Patrick Kane already has one Stanley Cup-winning goal from 2010 along with the one that put the Blackhawks back into the finals this year.
Can he imagine a second NHL title-clincher?
“I think the stars would have to be aligned right for it to happen like that again,” Kane said yesterday, a day before the Blackhawks will take the ice in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final with a chance to win their second championship in four seasons.
“I think the biggest thing is trying to help contribute any way I can, help this team get a win, especially the situation we’re in,” said Kane, who scored the winner in Game 6 against Philadelphia in the 2010 finals, and the one that eliminated the Kings in this year’s Western Conference finals. “I’ll do whatever I can to help the team win, and it would be a great feeling.”
The Blackhawks will take a 3-2 lead into Game 6 against the Boston Bruins tonight, and Kane is a big reason why. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 NHL draft had two goals in Chicago’s 3-1 victory in Game 5, giving him seven goals in his last seven games, including two winners.
“That’s the type of player he is,” Blackhawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson said. “When it comes down to the wire and tight games, big games, that’s when he wants the puck. That’s when he wants to score the goals, the big goals.
“It’s huge to have those kind of players in your team when you go far in the playoffs. And now when it’s really coming down to the wire here, (it) gives the whole group confidence that you have players like that. It’s not a coincidence that he has a lot of big goals so far in his career.”
In addition to the nine times he has scored in 22 playoff games this postseason, Kane led the Blackhawks in scoring in the lockout-shortened regular season with 55 points in 48 games — including 23 goals that tied for the team lead.
Toews did not play in the third period of Game 5. The team has not disclosed what the injury is, but Quenneville said Toews is doing better.
Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk was not given a penalty on the hit that injured Toews.
The Bruins are missing Patrice Bergeron, who also left Game 5 with an undisclosed injury