Here come the Blackhawks -- and one of their all-time greats, now playing for the other side.
Sunday evening's visit from the Detroit Red Wings will see the Chicago Blackhawks host Patrick Kane as a visiting player for the first time.
Kane helped Chicago claim three Stanley Cups in his 15-plus seasons while amassing the third-most regular-season goals (446) and second-most assists (779) in club history.
Chicago traded Kane, a former league and playoff MVP, to the New York Rangers in February 2023. He signed a one-year contract with Detroit in late November and said he is eager to return to the United Center.
"Obviously, through our playoff runs and even in some tough times as well," Kane said, "I always felt the support from the fans. ... So it'll be fun to go back and just share that moment with the fans. Not really sure what to expect or what's gonna happen, but it's going to be a fun night."
There's no argument from Blackhawks leading scorer Connor Bedard, who, like Kane, was selected by Chicago with the first overall draft pick.
"[Kane is] an icon in the game, and he's someone that is going to be remembered forever," said Bedard, a rookie who has 39 points this season (17 goals, 22 assists). "And he's still playing at such an elite level."
Kane and Michael Rasmussen both contributed a goal and an assist to Saturday's 6-1 home rout of the St. Louis Blues, the Red Wings' fourth successive victory. Kane has 26 points this season (11 goals, 15 assists).
Alex DeBrincat, also a former Blackhawk, paced the Detroit attack with two goals and an assist in the matinee as the Red Wings maintained possession of the first Eastern Conference wild-card spot.
"We're in a stretch where we are playing some really good hockey, and we need to take advantage of it," Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. "If we want to get over that (playoff) line at the end of the season, we're going to need every last point we can get."
Chicago picked up a point in Friday's 3-2 overtime loss to the visiting Winnipeg Jets but still has a league-low 34 points while losing 11 of their past 12 games.
After the Blackhawks' Tyler Johnson scored the tying goal with an extra attacker with 43 seconds left in regulation, Chicago surrendered a goal just 25 seconds into overtime.
"We did a lot of good things," Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones said. "We had some sustained O-zone time, as well. We were getting pucks to the net. Our forwards did a great job getting pucks low-to-high and getting it out of pressure, an the ‘D' was shooting a lot more than we have in the past.
"It's just an unfortunate bounce in OT. It doesn't really surprise me at this point, to be honest. It's kinda crazy."
James Reimer is expected to get the start in goal for the Red Wings on Sunday.
In the teams' only meeting this season, Detroit rolled past visiting Chicago 5-1 on Nov. 30 behind two goals each from J.T. Compher and Robby Fabbri.
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