Awaiting History

Evander Kane did something he's never done before in his career on Tuesday night: he suited up in the KHL! Kane took an offer from Dinamo Minsk and hit the ice wearing a very unfamiliar #98, but he looked fairly good in his first game against Yaroslavl Lokomotiv. Kane looks like he'll be ready for the start of the NHL season... whenever that is. In the meantime, he can focus on playing hard and trying to notch that first goal of the season for Dinamo Minsk. Playing in front of all-world goaltender Pekka Rinne should make things a little easier for the Belarusian club.

Having last played in May at the World Championships, Kane lined up on the second line alongside Andrei Stas and Zbynek Irgl. He played 16 minutes, recorded 6 shots on goal, won one of two face-offs he took, and took a two-minute minor penalty.

"Of course he needs time to settle down and find his game. He arrived only yesterday and did not train much with the team. I think he will help us. The only thing he needs right now is some time to adjust," head coach Kari Heikkila stressed.

Lokomotiv downed Dinamo Minsk by a 2-1 score as Sergei Varlamov shut the door on the Dinamo players. Kane's linemate, Andrei Stas, had the lone goal for Minsk. Artyom Anisimov and Niklas Hagman scored for Lokomotiv. Dinamo Minsk will play its next game at home on October 4 against Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod where hopefully we'll see Kane notch his first KHL goal.

In the meantime, here are the highlights from the Lokomotiv-Dinamo Minsk game.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!