As Kane aims for Blackhawks record, Roenick marvels

NEW YORK -- Former Chicago Blackhawks star forward Jeremy Roenick thought he had seen it all from current Blackhawks star forward Patrick Kane, from the speed to the skill, the incredible hands and clutch scoring.

He was wrong.

Roenick, who has long considered Kane among his favorite players to watch, said he is seeing him do things with and without the puck this season that he has never done before. They're a big reason why Kane leads the NHL with 38 points, including at least one in 20 consecutive games. He can tie Bobby Hull's franchise record Thursday against the Ottawa Senators (7:30 p.m. ET; CSN-CH, RDS2, TSN5).

"He threw two body checks [Tuesday] night; he never throws body checks," Roenick said. "He's working harder off the puck to make sure he's putting himself in position to steal pucks and have the puck more.

"He's so focused."

Kane is also red-hot. His point streak, featuring 32 points on 12 goals and 20 assists, is the longest for any player in the NHL since Sidney Crosby scored a point in 25 straight games five years ago (Nov. 5 - Dec. 28, 2010). It is the longest in NHL history by a U.S.-born player.

Hull set the Blackhawks record in the 1971-72 season (Dec. 5-Jan. 23), when he had 35 points on 23 goals and 12 assists during a 21-game point streak.

Kane is the fourth player in the NHL to register a point streak of 20 or more games since the 1997-98 season, joining Crosby, Dany Heatley (22 games, 2005-06 season) and Paul Stastny (20 games, 2006-07 season).

"I think 12 or 13 games was my longest streak, and I know how hard it was to score when I played, but it might be harder to score nowadays because of the technology, the way the players are, the goaltenders and how good they are," Roenick said. "To put streaks like this together in this day and age with the talent level that's in the game today, it's amazing. It's one of the toughest accomplishments. What he's doing is harder than scoring 100 points in a season."

Roenick also predicted Kane's streak won't end any time soon.

"I don't see it stopping, especially with his line with [Artemi] Panarin and [Artem] Anisimov," Roenick said. "They have great chemistry. It's a great combination. When you have that combination, and I know because I've played with it, you go out there and think you're going to score two or three a night. I think that's what Patrick is thinking and feeling now."

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