Patrick Kane's key shot in Detroit Red Wings debut: 'It would have been nice to bury that'

Before he even touched the ice, "Patrick Kane Night" started Thursday inside the Detroit Red Wings' team store.

There, his new No. 88 sweater featuring the Winged Wheel was flying off the shelves and onto fans’ backs even before the longtime Chicago Blackhawk (and perhaps hockey’s greatest American-born player) made his much-anticipated debut at Little Caesars Arena, nine days after he signed a one-year deal for $2.75 million.

Anticipated — for Wings fans to finally see this great player (and former hated rival) make his debut with his new team.

Anticipated — for Kane himself to see how his surgically repaired hip would hold up, 220 days since his last NHL game.

Anticipated — before a wild 6-5 overtime loss to the lowly San Jose Sharks.

And yet, all of that anticipation — and no one had to wait long.

HIP TO BE REPAIRED: Inside Patrick Kane’s resurfacing surgery — and why it’s not right procedure for most

The former Chicago star got the first shift playing right wing on the third line, along with Joe Veleno and former teammate Alex DeBrincat. And when he was introduced as the last player before the national anthem, the roars from the sold-out crowd of 19,515 told him all he needed to know about the way he would be received after ditching Chi-town (with a short stop in New York City) for Hockeytown.

“I mean, you know, the fans were great,” Kane said. “Obviously with the with the starting lineup, and even coming out for warmups, just it's a great organization, a lot of history.

“This team's been playing great. It's been fun to watch. A couple of hiccups tonight, but I still think as a group, we have a lot of confidence and be fun to try and get it back on Saturday.”

Understandably, it wasn’t the vintage Kane we’ve seen darting around the ice — creating offense out of nothing with eyes in the back of his head while terrorizing goalies on his way to a Hart Trophy and three Stanley Cups.

No, this was a more subdued Kane, who said his hip felt fine. But at age 35, and coming off a seven-month layoff from NHL action, he had to find his way across 22 shifts and 16:33 of ice time.

He knew it would take time to build up his timing and his confidence, especially with a new team. And it did. The man they call “Showtime” looked more like he was biding his time while trying to figure it all out.

“Getting back to, you know, trying to take over when you have the puck on your stick and take over games,” he said. “But I think a little bit tentative tonight at times. But overall felt pretty good, felt like I was making some plays.

“Probably look back and see what everything looks like on the video. But just felt good to be out there and be playing the best league in the world again.”

On a night when 11 goals were scored and the stat sheet passed out in the press box probably required a few extra toner cartridges to print, Kane was relatively quiet: Three shots on goal, three missed shots, three giveaways and a minus-one rating.

But there was one missed shot that was especially costly. With the game tied at 4, early in the third period, a quick pass came to Kane all alone in point-blank range. He snapped a beautiful wrist shot that beat goalie Kappo Kahkonen — but hit the left post.

On a night when the Wings could have used some of the magic in Kane’s stick that has downed so many teams, he was still trying to figure out how to find it himself. How much did that shot haunt him?

“I think throughout the game, you know, as an offensive player, you always want to create chances, right?” he said. “So you can live and die with hitting the post or not capitalizing on your chances. But you want to create and you want to play the right way for your team, too.”

Kane is right. That he was in position to take a shot he would normally convert — that he has so often converted —was a good sign. But he added a little wistful note to his thoughts.

“So,” he said, “it would have been nice to bury that, though.”

Any time Kane had the puck on his stick, you could feel the anticipation welling up at LCA, as though Wings fans expected something special from this special player who has done so many special things over the years (and so often against the Wings).

It never came, but coach Derek Lalonde was at least encouraged by what he saw in Kane’s debut.

“Good,” he said. “He looked very comfortable. Obviously a little rusty.

“He’d probably, with a little more polish to his game, you know could have had three or four points. He’s probably (kicking) himself that he didn’t. So I think certainly a positive for him tonight.”

On a night when the Wings squandered a 4-0 lead against the second-worst team in the NHL, those three or four points certainly would have come in handy. Maybe they will sometime soon.

Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Patrick Kane's Detroit Red Wings debut: 'A little bit tentative'