DETROIT — Patrick Kane was all alone in front of the net with a point-blank shot to score in his debut with the Detroit Red Wings.
Ping.
Kane hit the left post early in the third period and the San Jose Sharks went on to beat the Red Wings 6-5 in overtime Thursday night.
“It would’ve been nice to bury that,” he said.
Kane took his first of 22 shifts at the start of the game and finished with three shots in 16 minutes, 33 seconds of ice time in an intriguing NHL comeback.
The 35-year-old Kane had his right hip surgically repaired six months ago and is shooting to become the third player in the league to return from the invasive procedure.
“Overall, I felt fine,” he said. “I’ll definitely have to build up the timing, the confidence and getting back to trying to take over when you have the puck on your stick and take over games.”
Detroit signed the playmaking wing last week to a prorated $2.75 million contract for the rest of the season to bolster its chances of earning a spot in the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
“It was exciting for the whole group that he decided to join us,” Red Wings forward David Perron said. “It was a big decision, and I’m glad he chose us.”
The three-time Stanley Cup champion and 2016 NHL MVP says he feels significantly better than the previous time he played on May 1 for the New York Rangers against New Jersey in Game 7 of their first-round playoff series.
Kane is shooting to join Ed Jovanovski and Nicklas Backstrom as NHL players to come back hip resurfacing surgery. The operation involves dislocating the upper end of the thighbone, trimming it, capping it and removing cartilage before putting it back in place.
“You can look at some players who’ve done it in the past and maybe they’re at the end of their career and it didn’t really work for them,” Kane said. “But I have a lot of optimism about it and I think you’re going to see more and more players do it.”
Tennis star Andy Murray also had the surgery, providing another source of hope for Kane.
“He had a couple scopes as well and decided to go to the resurfacing and it seems like he’s had a lot of success,” Kane said. “He’s still playing. I think it’s been maybe three, four years since he’s done the resurfacing, so it seems like it’s been pretty successful for him.”
Kane took a step toward his quest to become a significant NHL player again, lining up at right wing in Detroit’s starting lineup along with center Joe Veleno and former Chicago Blackhawks teammate Alex DeBrincat.
“I was a little bit tentative at times, but overall I pretty good and felt like I was making some plays,” Kane said. “It just felt good to be out there and be playing in the best league in the world again.”
He played 4-plus minutes in the first and had a shot to score late in the period, but his wrist shot – his first of three in the game – was stopped by San Jose goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood. In the second period, Kane had a cross-ice pass deflected and sent over the glass and had another shot stopped.
“He looked very comfortable,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “Obviously, a little rusty.”