Patrick Kane out one month or more after boards crash: Reports

In one tumble into the boards, Patrick Kane’s MVP campaign may have crashed.

The Chicago Blackhawks star left their game against the Florida Panthers in the first period on Tuesday night, his left shoulder and hand smacking against the dasher after a cross-check from Alex Petrovic. He skated off in pain and didn’t return to the game, a shootout win for the Blackhawks.

The aftermath? Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune heard “broken collarbone” and reported that Kane could miss anywhere from six weeks to 10 weeks.

Tracey Myers of CSN Chicago heard at least a month. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet put out the following:

“Word is concern with Kane is shoulder/collarbone. No one wants to put a timeline on it, but doesn't look good. Hopefully he recovers quickly.”

Petrovic was given a 2-minute minor for cross-checking.

Here’s the play in question:

How much did the cross-check contribute to Kane’s crash into the boards? Tough to say. It appeared that Kane’s skate either lost an edge or clipped that of Petrovic’s.

Whatever the catalyst, it was a nasty spill.

It’s a tremendous loss for the Blackhawks. Kane was on track for a Hart Trophy nomination with a league-leading 64 points on the season. How valuable is Kane? Consider that he’s scored 51 points in the Blackhawks’ 35 games that ended in victory; he scored just 13 in their 25 losses. And 21 of his 27 goals came at even strength.

Huge loss for the Blackhawks. The question is, for how long?

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