CHICAGO — The Avalanche on Tuesday goes up against the Chicago Blackhawks and the longest individual scoring streak in 23 years.
Patrick Kane, who turned 27 last month, already is applying for Hockey Hall of Fame credentials. His active 26-game point streak is 11th longest all-time and two shy from the top-10 — a list that consists of six Hall of Famers.
The Avs, who had Monday off in Chicago, will try to end Kane’s streak and sweep their three-game, all-Central Division road trip at the United Center.
“These division games are so important, and we’ve been good on the road. We want to keep that going,” Avs captain Gabe Landeskog said.
The last player to produce a goal or assist in 26 consecutive games was Mats Sundin of the Quebec Nordiques from Oct. 8 to Dec. 10, 1992 — 3 ½ years before the Nordiques moved to Colorado.
Kane leads the NHL with 27 assists and 46 points, and is second with 19 goals. He is on pace to challenge Mike Modano’s records for most NHL goals and points for an American-born player. Modano amassed 561 goals and 1,374 points over 20 years and was inducted into the hall of fame in 2014.
Modano is from Michigan and Kane from Buffalo, N.Y. Modano told that he’s a big fan of the Blackhawks’ three-time Stanley Cup-winning superstar.
“It’s one of those things where you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” Modando told reporter Tracey Myers. “You can’t run at him hard and fast because he can make moves around you. But if you do back off and give him time, he’ll kill you that way. It was difficult to contain him and try to maneuver him and get him out of the dangerous part of the ice.”
Kane’s points streak is just a little more than half of Wayne Gretzky’s record 51, but the top four streaks — three by Gretzky — came in the high-scoring era of the 1980s. Scoring is down, and the league is considering making the nets bigger and goalie pads smaller.
Goals are hard to come by these days. But Kane and the Blackhawks are in a different league.
Since Kane’s streak began Oct. 7 against Columbus, 21-of-30 NHL teams have failed to score a goal.
Mike Chambers: mchambers@denverpost.com or @mikechambers
Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane takes the 11th-best points streak in NHL history into Tuesday’s game against the Avalanche at Chicago:
Games Player Team Time
51 Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton 1983-84
46 Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh 1989-90
39 Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton 1985-86
30 Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton 1982-83
30 Mats Sundin, Quebec 1992-93
28 Guy Lafleur, Montreal 1976-77
28 Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton 1984-85
28 Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh 1985-86
28 Paul Coffey, Edmonton 1985-86
28 Steve Yzerman, Detroit 1988-89
26 Patrick Kane, Chicago 2015-current
