Patrick Kane has had no shortage of individual highs over his storied NHL career, but this weekend, he thinks he might've hit a new low.
Kane scored his 15th of the season to cap a huge three-goal rally for the Detroit Red Wings in the third period of Sunday's game against the Minnesota Wild.
But moments later, with the game tied 4-4 and less than four minutes remaining, Kane had a moment he'd admittedly like to have back.
The three-time Stanley Cup champion took a costly tripping penalty on Wild defenceman Quinn Hughes well away from the play. Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov scored on the ensuing power play, and the Wild held on for a 5-4 win.
After not speaking post-game, Kane owned up to his mistake on Tuesday.
"Obviously, a lapse in judgment for sure," Kane said to Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. "Looking back at the play, I've watched it obviously numerous times — just going for a change, probably trying to get in front of Quinn a little bit and give a little bit of interference and the stick got caught up.
"Obviously, didn't mean to do that or take a penalty at that time of game. It's one of those plays where you wish you had like 10 seconds of your life back and you could take it back."
Kane also said it might've been the lowest he's ever felt on a personal level in his entire career.
"It was tough, for sure, especially right after the game," Kane said Tuesday. "I’ve played in the league 19 years, and you play long enough, you can be the hero a lot of times, or you can be the goat. And I think looking back on that play, and just how I felt after the game, is probably, maybe the worst I’ve felt personally in my career, just letting the team down and the position we were in."
Sunday's loss was another crushing blow to the Red Wings' playoff chances, and continues what has been a late-season collapse for a team looking to get back to the post-season for the first time in nine years.
After coming out of the Olympic break third in the Atlantic Division, the Red Wings trail the Ottawa Senators by two points for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Kane and the Red Wings return to the ice on Tuesday for a pivotal matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets, who are equal to Detroit in the standings with 88 points.
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