Patrick Kane's playoff performance is why Rangers traded for star forward

This was the reason Patrick Kane wanted to be traded here. A playoff game, at Madison Square Garden.

“Yeah, I can't wait,’’ he said after taking a spin on the Garden ice Saturday morning before Game 3 of the Rangers’ first-round playoff series against the Devils. “I mean, you hear a lot about it, but I haven't experienced it yet.’’

Kane was likely to get a warm welcome from the Garden fans, especially after the strong game he had in the Rangers’ 5-1 victory Thursday in Newark. He had three points in Game 2, assisting on both of Chris Kreider’s second-period power-play goals, to push the Rangers to a 3-1 lead. Kane then scoring a gorgeous goal in the third period to make it 4-1.

It was a vintage performance from Kane, the kind that the Rangers were hoping for when they traded for him.  The Rangers had to manipulate the salary cap in late February to create just enough room to squeeze him in and then traded a couple of draft picks – including one that could become a first-rounder – and minor league defenseman Andy Welinski to get him in a three-team deal from Chicago, via Arizona.

“It was great to see,’’ Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said of Kane’s performance Thursday. “He played really well … awesome goal. A good breakaway play and he buried it. And he showed a lot of excitement.’’

It took a while for Kane, who was acquired Feb. 28, to settle in and get comfortable in his new surroundings. He’d spent nearly 16 seasons playing in Chicago after being drafted No. 1 overall in 2007, and he’d come to New York with 446 goals and 1,225 points on his resume.

He played 19 regular-season games for the Rangers and scored five goals and 12 points – good, but hardly spectacular numbers for the third-leading American-born scorer in NHL history. But when the season was over, Gallant told reporters “We didn’t get Patrick Kane for the last 10 games of the regular season.’’

But Kane seemed to be wanting to do more than he had showed, when he told the New York Post before Game 2, “There’s more that I have to give. People should expect more from me.’’

On Saturday, Kane said he never had any doubts that he would be able to produce a performance like he did Thursday, eventually.

“No, no,’’ he said. “You can make all the excuses you want, (but) I think at the end of the day, if you're not performing, you just need to play better, right? So yeah, I’m just trying to keep getting better.’’

He couldn’t have done much better than he did on his goal, the 53rd playoff goal in his career. He stole the puck from Devils forward Jesper Bratt in the defensive zone, coming up from behind Bratt, lifting his stick and nudging the puck away. Then he cut around Bratt, picked up the puck, and sped away on a two-on-none break with Kreider.

His initial instinct was to pass to Kreider, who already had two goals at that point and was driving toward the back post. But Devils defenseman John Marino hustled back and dove, extending his stick to try and cut off the passing lane to Kreider, so Kane decided to keep the puck, and he cut in from the left and lifted a backhander past Devils goalie Vitek Vanecek for the goal.

He was asked if he was relieved to score the goal.

“I don't know if ‘relief’ is the word,’’ he said. “I think that's why you came here in the first place, right? For moments like that, to have that feeling. To have that excitement after a game where you feel like you played well and the team won. There's nothing like that feeling after the game when you feel like you did your job, and there's an extra number in the win column for the team.’’

The goal was icing on the cake for Kane, but his two assists – he had three in the first two games – were big, too, as they were part of the reason the Rangers’ power play has been so deadly, connecting four times (all tip-in goals by Kreider) in 10 attempts for a 40%  success rate.

FOX PUTTING UP POINTS AT RECORD PACE

Jericho native Adam Fox entered Saturday's Game 3 with six assists through two games, tying John Carlson (with the Capitals in 2018) and Gary Suter (with the Flames in 1988) for the most through the first two playoff games by a defenseman in NHL history, according to the NHL public relations.

Fox is the sixth defenseman in NHL history with six points through his first two games in a playoff year, joining Suter in 1988, Carlson in 2018, Al MacInnis in 1999, Bobby Orr in 1971 and Pierre Pilote in 1964.

Fox has 29 points in his first 25 career playoff games. Orr (1.24 points per game) and Fox (1.16) are the only two defensemen in NHL history to have a P/GP of 1.10 or higher with 25 or more playoff games played.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.