Seeing the mullet struggle a bit to get off the ice at the end of the second period against the Sharks sent a collective gasp among Hawks fans. Losing Patrick Kane for any amount of time would not exactly spell instant disaster for Chicago, but it certainly would cause some issues for a team hoping to take out San Jose.
Now, he did return for the third period and while he never actually left the bench for any amount of time just seeing him struggle a bit to get off was enough to make fans worry.
Of course, this being the playoffs we’ll never know exactly what happened or what was wrong. From the Chicago Tribune:
“I never left the game, to be honest with you,” Kane said as the Hawks regulars got a day off from practice. “I think I missed one shift in the second and I was fine in the third. Sometimes matchups get a little bit (in the) way of ice time. I was fine, and nothing’s wrong.”
The coach -- and Kane -- maintain the minutes were a bit limited because of the matchups the Sharks were forcing on the ice.