The Chicago Blackhawks dropped their seventh straight home game with a 5–2 loss to the Florida Panthers on Sunday afternoon. Entering the game, 29 points separated the two clubs, and though the Hawks had a strong first period, they were clearly not on a level playing field as their foes on Sunday.
The two sides skated to a 1–1 first period. After the Panthers started the scoring with a goal from Aaron Ekblad with under five minutes to play, Chicago drew even with under a minute to go. Patrick Kane’s off-angle shot from behind the goal line eluded Sergei Bobrovsky to knot the score before the end of the frame.
Literally how?? 🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/HPwuhMTvCq
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 20, 2022
In the second period, the Panthers regained the lead at the 7:26 mark when Brandon Montour’s long wrist shot beat Marc-Andre Fleury high to the blocker side.
When the third period began, Florida quickly extended their lead when MacKenzie Weegar scored just 50 seconds in. The Hawks tried to claw back into the game and narrowed the gap when Caleb Jones scored his second goal of the season with assists going to Alex DeBrincat and Kane.
🚨 CALEB JONES GOALLLLLLL 🚨
It’s a one goal game! pic.twitter.com/H0nTVNmu03
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 20, 2022
But, the Panthers pulled away with back-to-back empty-net goals from Aleksander Barkov and Anton Lundell to seal the 5–2 win. The Hawks battled but could not capitalize on their power play chances, going 0–4 on the day. Chicago does not play again until Friday when they host the New Jersey Devils.
Patrick Kane has seen better days in Chicago, and his frustration at the team’s demise is beginning to show.(Photograph courtesy of the NHL)
Analysis
With an assist on Jones’ goal, Kane notched his 720th career assist, moving him ahead of Blackhawks legend Denis Savard on the Hawks all-time assist list. Though Kane can and will continue to reach milestones on the stat sheet, his body language on the ice clearly shows his frustration, and rightly so. For a player who has given all of himself to this organization, to lose night in and night out has to be taking its toll on No. 88. It will be interesting to see if and when Kane elects to waive his no-movement clause to get another shot at a Cup run. By now, he must realize that he will not be winning another Cup in Chicago. He still has another season with a $10.5 million cap hit, which will limit trade possibilities this season and even this summer. Perhaps we will be seeing him in another uniform a year from now ahead of the 2023 trade deadline. That said, ultimately, it is entirely up to him if whether or not he wants to be traded ahead of his contract expiring in June of 2023. One should wonder how much more he can take playing for the red, white and black.