Patrick Kane’s debut in Detroit didn’t go as planned. The Red Wings hope for a smoother performance when they host Ottawa on Saturday night.
The nine-time All-Star and presumed future Hall of Fame inductee signed a one-year contract with Detroit last week. Kane, who underwent hip resurfacing surgery during the offseason, skated well but didn’t have a point in his first appearance on Thursday. Kane had three shots on goal and hit the post in the third period.
His new teammates blew a four-goal lead and wound up losing to San Jose in overtime, 6-5.
“It was just fun to get out there and play again,” Kane said. “Obviously, it would’ve been a little bit better getting the win. It seemed like we were rolling there at 4-0.”
The Sharks evened the score before a wild second period, in which eight goals were tallied, ended. Dylan Larkin gave the Red Wings the lead back with 6:40 remaining in the game but Tomas Hertl tied it with 1:29 on the clock. Mikael Grandlund then scored 37 seconds into overtime.
“We were casual and got outworked all night,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “It’s another learning lesson. We have to be on all the time.”
Kane was reunited with his former Chicago linemate, Alex DeBrincat, during most of his shifts. Joe Veleno served as their center, though J.T. Compher — who missed Thursday’s game with a minor injury — will likely take on that role.
“Overall, I felt fine,” said Kane, who played for Chicago and the New York Rangers last season. “I’ll definitely have to build up the timing, the confidence and getting back to trying to take over (games) when you have the puck on your stick. I was a little bit tentative at times, but overall I felt pretty good and felt like I was making some plays.”
San Jose coach David Quinn said he expects Kane to give the Wings a big boost.
“It’s great for our league that he’s back,” he said. “I wish Newsy (Lalonde) had held him out one more night because I don’t care how long he doesn’t skate, I don’t care if he’s out there on one leg or one and a half legs, this guy’s an elite player. Every time he’s got it, you hold your breath when you’re standing on the other bench.”
Ottawa also suffered a one-goal loss on Thursday, falling to Toronto, 4-3. The Senators had won their previous two games.
“We did a lot of good things,” forward Claude Giroux said. “Definitely frustrating right now. If we play like that every night we’re going to win more than we lose.”
Defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker had a memorable night, scoring his first NHL goal in his 48th career game.
“It was really cool,” Bernard-Docker said. “I probably celebrated like I’ve never scored one in my life, but it’s the first one so I figured I may as well, you know, give it a little celebration.”
The Senators and Wings have met twice this season. Detroit captured a 5-2 win at Ottawa on Oct. 21 as Veleno scored two goals.
The rematch was held during Global Series Sweden on Nov. 16. Tim Stutzle scored with two seconds remaining in overtime to give the Senators a 5-4 win.
–Field Level Media
