Patrick Kane will look to make more history on Thursday, preferably during a Detroit Red Wings victory.
Detroit hosts the struggling Washington Capitals in the middle game of a three-game homestand.
Kane assisted Alex DeBrincat’s late goal against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday to bring his career point total to 1,374, tying him with Mike Modano for the most points by a U.S.-born player. That was Detroit’s only goal in a 3-1 loss.
“It’s tough right now,” Kane said. “Nothing really went right for us. It’s tough to really think about (the record) right now, but hopefully next game it’s a better result and (I) can move past Mike and that’ll be nice to do that and do it with a win.”
Kane reached another milestone this month when he scored his 500th goal, becoming the 50th player in league history to hit that mark. The Red Wings won that night.
“None of us are happy that we lost the game (Tuesday), but he also reached a pretty significant milestone,” coach Todd McLellan said. “He’s one away from being on top of that mountain. We’re happy for him and we’re excited for him. You know, 20 years from now when he’s telling the story, yeah, maybe it was in a loss, but it’s not going to hurt as much. So we have to be happy for him and that’s the positive in the game.”
Detroit had gone 8-1-1 in its previous 10 games but didn’t generate much offense until the third period against the Kings.
“It is that time of year where you’ve really got to focus and you really have to dig in, and if you even remotely give yourself permission to have an average night, this is what will happen,” McLellan said. “I’m not saying they did, but it looked like we were OK with being average and that wasn’t good enough.”
Being an average team again would be an improvement for the Capitals. After going 18-9-3 through their first 30 games, they have only won seven of their last 24 outings.
They lost six of their last seven games, including a 5-1 clunker at the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday. Alex Ovechkin upped his league record with career goal No. 919, which found the net during a third-period power play, but that was the only bright spot.
“I think everybody knows it doesn’t matter when I score if we stop playing,” Ovechkin said. “It was a big goal, and I think we had the momentum, but we just don’t use it.”
Washington will be finishing off a six-game road trip on Thursday.
“I think this is a kick in the teeth,” forward Tom Wilson said. “We’ve got one game left on this trip, and it’s the biggest game of the year. So, if we’re not desperate after this one, then I don’t know what to say. I think our group understands what’s going on here, and this is a big wake-up call coming in here and getting our (butts) handed to us.”
Detroit already clinched the season series by winning back-to-back games against the Capitals in December.
–Field Level Media
