Patrick Kane recorded his ninth career hat trick Sunday during the Chicago Blackhawks’ 5-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Kane tied Steve Larmer for fourth on the all-time Hawks list behind Bobby Hull (28), Stan Mikita (16) and Denis Savard (11).
“Just got some chances tonight,” Kane said. “Going back to the last couple games playing with Max (Domi) and (Philipp Kurashev), been getting some looks and nice to capitalize on ’em. Always nice to have a game like that at home.”
Kane reached another plateau that he owns all to himself.
He became the first player to record 700 points at the United Center, according to NHL Stats, when he scored the opening goal 10 minutes, 44 seconds into the game. With two more goals and an assist Sunday, he stands at 703 points — 255 goals and 448 assists — in 641 games at the UC.
Kane also recorded his 104th career three-point game, surpassing Mike Modano for second by a U.S-born skater and trailing only Pat LaFontaine (116).
“I’ve only seen vintage Patrick Kane on TV,” Hawks coach Luke Richardson said, “so to see it live … but he’s been definitely playing with obvious confidence and swagger that you’re normally going to see him with.
“Tonight he was really, really good with the puck. Even defensively, you saw him in the right places in the D-zone, so he’s not cheating the game to do what he had to do tonight. He played properly and the puck came back to him. I was happy for him.”
Kane has been on a hot streak lately, racking up five goals in the last two games. He scored the opening goal 44 seconds into Friday’s road-trip finale against the Ottawa Senators and the tying goal in the third period to send the game into overtime, when the Hawks pulled off a 4-3 upset.
On Kane’s first goal Sunday, Domi dished to Kane, who roofed a shot between defenseman Timothy Liljegren’s legs.
On the second goal in the second period, Kane took a centering pass from Domi and drifted to the left circle until he found a sliver of daylight under Ilya Samsonov’s left pad.
Three minutes later, Kane collected Connor Murphy’s rebound, maneuvered by the net and banked the puck off Samsonov’s back. It was initially ruled no goal, but video review changed the call.
“I thought it had a chance,” Kane said. “They must have been looking at the replay on the bench ’cause they told me it was in. Personally when I saw it, I thought it was maybe half over the line, half on the line. Yeah, just enough.”
Richardson said he had no doubt.
“We saw it right away on our teleprompter on the floor of the bench,” he said. “The only concern I had was if they’re going to say the whistle went because it kind of rolled through the goaltender and then crossed the line.
“And that’s a smart play. That’s a Wayne Gretzky play from old. He’s the first guy to do it from behind the goal line, so smart play.”
With 8 minutes left, Cole Guttman scored his first NHL goal to push the Hawks to a 4-3 edge, and Domi added an empty-netter with 1:16 left, assisted by Kane.
“It felt amazing,” Guttman said. “That was definitely a dream come true. I’ve thought about that my whole life, so it felt great to put it in.”
He celebrated by hugging former University of Denver teammate Ian Mitchell.
“That was unreal,” Guttman said. “I looked up and saw him and really couldn’t have (drawn) that up better. Been through a lot with that guy, so it was nice to celebrate with him.”