Blackhawks follow Kane’s lead in 1-0 Game 3 win over Wild

There was once a time when it seemed like Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane wouldn’t return from a broken clavicle until late May.

He came back at the start of the playoffs instead, and has made an incredible impact for Chicago, which beat Minnesota 1-0 Tuesday to take a commanding 3-0 series lead over the Wild.

Kane scored his sixth goal of the playoffs to give him 11 points in nine games played for Chicago. Kane suffered the injury on Feb. 24, underwent surgery shortly after. The Blackhawks said he would be out 12 weeks, but it has been way shorter, and Chicago is probably happy with this fact.

Kane has 102 points in 102 playoff games. 

The Wild had hoped to erase the sting of consecutive defeats in Chicago, and were much better than the team that allowed seven goals. Goaltender Devan Dubnyk made 21 saves on 22 shots on goal. But Chicago’s Corey Crawford was a little bit better with 30 stops on 30 shots on goal.

It was a tough break for the Wild, who crushed the Blackhawks in this game, out-shooting them and looking better from an advanced puck possession metric. But they lost the only score that mattered, and will have to come back against a deep, talented and confident Chicago team. 

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

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