Patrick Kane becomes scapegoat in loss to Wild

Detroit Red Wings right wing Patrick Kane. Danny Wild-Imagn Images

Patrick Kane goes from hero to scapegoat in loss to Wild

By Clark Dalton | Last updated Apr 5, 2026 6:17 PM ET

Detroit Red Wings right winger Patrick Kane was almost the hero in Sunday's home game against the Minnesota Wild.

Moments after he delivered a clutch play late in the third period, he followed it up with a boneheaded mistake.

Patrick Kane committed costly penalty after scoring key goal

The Red Wings entered the third period trailing 4-1, but quickly staged a rally. Detroit scored three goals in the third period. Kane netted the biggest.

Kane scored a goal off an assist from right winger Alex DeBrincat to tie the game at 4-4 with 5:24 remaining in the third period. Red Wings fans erupted after the score. A little over two minutes later, however, many Detroit supporters may have wanted to boo him when he made an asinine mistake.

Showtime. pic.twitter.com/LUQMHXaqGx
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) April 5, 2026

Kane tripped Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes. The infraction was egregious.

Patrick Kane, after scoring the tying goal in a wild 3 goal comeback, takes one of the most needless, stupid penalties I've ever seen late in the 3rd period, leading to a Minnesota goal & a regulation loss for Detroit with their season on the line.

Can't believe it. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/z9YQirClyp
— Ryan Hana (@RyanHanaWWP) April 5, 2026

Kane drew a two-minute minor penalty, putting the Wild on the power play. Minnesota took advantage of that.

Wild left winger Kirill Kaprizov scored his third goal of the game with 1:51 left in the third period. His sixth career hat trick gave Minnesota a 5-4 lead, which it held onto.

pic.twitter.com/BQTFgbvrY0
— x - Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 5, 2026

With the win over Detroit, Minnesota (44-21-12, 100 points) has now clinched a playoff spot. The Red Wings (40-29-8, 88 points), meanwhile, are on the verge of missing the postseason for a 10th consecutive season.

What are the Red Wings' playoff chances after loss to Wild?

Entering Sunday, the Red Wings trailed the Philadelphia Flyers (38-26-12, 88 points) and Ottawa Senators (39-27-10, 88 points) for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Now that they've dropped a second straight game, their chances of securing that have decreased.

MoneyPuck gives Detroit a 22.8% chance to make the playoffs with five regular-season games remaining.

Kane, 37, could've been a hero for Detroit. But his mistake has made him a potential scapegoat instead.

Clark Dalton

Clark Dalton is a 2022 journalism graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He gained experience in sports media over the past seven years — from live broadcasting and creating short films to podcasting and producing. In college, he wrote for The Daily Texan. He loves sports and enjoys hiking, kayaking and camping.

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