Having ended his franchise-record point streak, Patrick Kane can turn his attention toward helping the Chicago Blackhawks continue their recent mastery of the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Kane has played a significant role in his team's success against the Oilers.
Kane had a 26-game point streak snapped - the longest in the NHL since 1995-96 - in a 3-0 loss to visiting Colorado on Tuesday. The league's leading scorer had 40 of his 46 points (16 goals, 24 assists) during the longest run by a U.S.-born player and one that topped Bobby Hull's 21-game streak in 1971-72.
"Didn't have it tonight, so now I can just focus on playing hockey," he said. "It was a good run, but when you have to talk about it every day it gets taxing."
Kane and the Blackhawks will seek to bounce back with their ninth win in 10 games against Edmonton, their fourth in a row and third this season.
The line of Kane, Artemi Panarin and Artem Anisimov accounted for every goal and five assists in a 4-2 victory Nov. 8. Kane matched a career high with four points (one goal, three assists) and Panarin scored twice in Chicago's fourth consecutive win over Edmonton (14-16-2) at the United Center.
Kane has racked up 36 points in his last 21 matchups (11 goals, 25 assists), his most versus any opponent since the beginning of the 2009-10 season.
The Oilers had a chance to enter this game with their longest win streak in 15 seasons but couldn't earn a seventh consecutive victory Tuesday, falling 4-2 at the New York Rangers in the second of back-to-back games.
Edmonton rallied twice from one-goal deficits but didn't respond to Rick Nash's power-play score late in the second period despite getting three power-play opportunities in the third.
"We definitely felt the effects of a back-to-back," defenseman Brandon Davidson said. "The difference was special teams tonight. I think if we could have taken care of that a little better, we would have had a better fate."
Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle, the team's two goal scorers Tuesday, will try to stay hot as the Oilers continue a four-game road trip. In the past six games, Hall has six goals and four assists while Eberle has tallied five goals and eight points.
Hall has one goal and two assists in his last four games against Chicago after producing eight goals and 11 assists in his first 13 matchups. Eberle has a goal in each of the two meetings this season, including a 4-3 overtime loss in Edmonton on Nov. 18.
Marian Hossa scored the winning goal for Chicago while Panarin had one goal and two assists.
Leon Draisaitl sent the game into an extra period by scoring with 2:46 left in regulation. The Edmonton center had seven goals and 10 assists in his first 10 games after being called up from the minors Oct. 29 but has two goals and eight assists in his past 12.
Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford has won his past six starts against the Oilers while posting a 1.97 goals-against average.
