BLOG: Feel the Kane

LOS ANGELES, CA - The Kane Train has arrived at Station Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Of the 14 goals scored by the Edmonton Oilers over their last two victories in their first-round matchup with the Los Angeles Kings, just over a third of them (five) have come off the stick of their incredibly influential mid-season signing. It doesn't look like he has the brakes to stop in the post-season either after riding unhinged offensively through the regular season.
Evander Kane's hat-trick on Friday night headlined an 8-2 thrashing of the Kings in Game 3 that's put home ice back into the court of the Blue & Orange with a 2-1 series advantage heading into Sunday's Game 4 back at Crypto.com Arena.
The dynamic winger potted his first of the evening off a Cody Ceci rebound by getting to the dirty area in front of the Kings crease before bashing home Edmonton's 3-0 advantage by winning a race to the puck, sending it up top, and cleaning up another point shot from Ceci over netminder Cal Petersen to make it five unanswered and a 5-0 lead for Edmonton near the game's half-way mark.
"I think we're a really good team with the lead," he said. "Scoring early, countering their push in the first period and getting two goals was a good start for us. We knew we had a lot better after that first period, and going into the second we did a great job responding."
With 20 seconds on the clock in a lopsided scoreline, the 30-year-old waltzed down the weak side and calmly snapped Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' cross-zone feed past Petersen for good measure, confirming that the Oilers would have their second straight six-goal win over their opening-round opponents.
Ceci posted another helper on the play to record assists on all three tallies for Kane, who became the first Oiler since 1992 with back-to-back multi-goal playoff games since after Bernie Nicholls also did it in Games 2 and 3 against the Kings.
"It's his finishing," Connor McDavid, Kane's linemate for the majority of his time in an Oilers uniform, said post-game. "He just seems to be in the right spot and finds a way to put it in the back of the net. He's hard on the forecheck, he's physical, but he seems to be at the right spot at the right time."

McDavid couldn't flat out say that this has been the best two-game stretch of Kane's time in Edmonton, but it's hard not to argue the point and the influence of these performances on their holding of a 2-1 series lead through three games after both Kane and the Oilers started the series slowly in Game 1.
There was a three-game stretch near the end of the regular season where the 30-year-old recorded five goals and two assists over three games, including a hat-trick on April 22 at Rogers Place against the Colorado Avalanche, but the stage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs can help move those discussions along rather quickly.
"He's been really good," McDavid added. "To say the best two-game stretch, I don't know. Certainly, the most important. It definitely took him a few games to get his legs going but once he did, you've seen the results."
The unique aspect of Kane's game for the Oilers comes in his ability to complement one of hockey's best in McDavid, using his finishing ability and physicality to his own and his team's advantage. In addition to a hat-trick on Friday night, Kane included nine shots and eight hits to his section of the stat sheet.

"He's a finisher, so he's someone who can score. He's paired up with Connor, and Connor's one of the best playmakers in the world if not the best player in the world. When you pair a finisher with the best player in the world, good things are happening," Woodcroft said.
"But I also think, and I've said this to him personally, that he has good habits in his game. He does a lot of really good things. He goes to hard areas and stops, doesn't fly by confrontation, he's physical, he invests on other teams' defensive core, and he's been a really good addition for us. He's a really big part of why we're at where we're at."
Woodcroft continued: "I only know what I see, and I see a guy who's a good professional, someone who goes to the rink every day with a purpose to be the best that he can be, someone who compliments the best players in the world, and I see a good teammate. He certainly makes us a better team."
Kane will admit it took a dozen or so games to truly return himself to the game speed of the NHL after signing in Oil Country on Jan. 27 with the Oilers in sixth spot in the Pacific Division with a 21-16-2 record and -2 goal differential. However, a high comfort level in the dressing room and with his new teammates and coaching staff was instantaneous.

"Honestly right when I got to the rink the first day, I was really comfortable," he said. "The guys were awesome and made me feel right at home. In terms of my on-ice game, it probably took me 10 games to get comfortable and get my legs back. Playing with Connor for the first time, it takes some time to build some chemistry but I think we've done that and will continue to do that."
He played a big role for the Oilers down the stretch, turning his tough times off the ice into positive reinforcement with the help of his family to record 22 goals (a 40-goal pace) and 39 points in 43 regular-season games before the post-season. Now, when it matters, he's putting in his best outings in an Oilers uniform.
"The beginning of the year was very tough with a lot of different things going on in my life. A real credit to my family for helping me get through everything," he said.
"My uncle is actually in the hospital and I wanted to have a big game for him. There's been a lot of trials and tribulations and it's nice to turn the page and start to move forward in a positive way."