He might've thought he had it about an hour before he actually did, but Patrick Kane has officially taken the title for most points by a US born NHL player in league history with 1,375 with an assist on a goal by the recently re-signed Ben Chiarot.
After the veteran winger's first point of the night was taken off thanks to an offsides penalty spotted during the goal scoring review in the first period, Kane was credited with the secondary assist on Chiarot's game tying goal in the Red Wings matchup with the Washington Capitals. The celebration for the record breaking point comes on the unceremonious heels of Kane tying the record in a Red Wings loss earlier this week to the L.A. Kings. Kane's record breaking point also came in a loss, as Detroit fell to the Washington Capitals in the shootout after a late rally to close out regulation.
The Red Wings spent much of the first period trying to force the issue, appearing slightly gun-shy in the face of a Capitals team that wasn't afraid to make things physical tonight. While the team had already been clearly trying to give Kane a point before the first goal of the game was wiped off the boards, the Red Wings appeared to be trying to make up for the false start through much of the rest of the first and second periods. It got to the point that head coach Todd McLellan put Showtime back down on the second power play unit after the first two proved fruitless partially due to the fact that the players were so obviously funneling the puck to him.
However, midway through the period, it was the recently re-signed and much maligned Chiarot who put the Red Wings, and Kane back into gear. Chiarot and Kane are some of the Red Wings' oldest players, and they proved tonight that experience counts when your team is down. And Kane, as the all time U.S. born points leader, has plenty of quality experience. Despite the milestone career achievement, however, the Red Wings were largely somber after the shootout. Said Kane postgame, "It's nice to have it over with in some ways and just worry about the rest of the season and what we can accomplish as a group."
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