Patrick Kane has prided himself on getting off to strong starts.

The Chicago Blackhawks star set that standard by compiling 13 points in his first 10 games as a rookie. His numbers after 10 games of each season have varied since then, but he’s always been close to a point a game.

This season, he’s off to the worst start of his career. He has three goals and four assists after 10 games. His previous lowest production was eight points through 10 games.

Kane has especially struggled in 5-on-5 situations this season. He has one goal, for his only point, in 142:26 of ice time. He’s produced five points on the power play and another point in a 4-on-4 situation. He had 18 goals and 23 assists in 5-on-5 play last season.

Kane also hasn’t been his normal self in terms of possession. He hasn’t had a positive Corsi performance in 5-on-5 play in the last seven games. He had a minus-43 Corsi during that span with the Blackhawks being outshot 119-76 with him on the ice.

Kane also has had three games of minus-8 Corsi or worse. His worst game was minus-12 Corsi against the Ottawa Senators on Sunday. He had 18 negative Corsi games in the regular season last season and none worse than a minus-8. He’s already had two worse than that this season.

Part of the reason for Kane’s lack of production is he’s getting less shots. He had 16 shots on net during the season’s first three games and just 13 shots over the last seven games. Those shot numbers include even strength and power play.

Kane has played alongside pretty much the same forwards all season. He’s shared the ice with Andrew Shaw for 100:57 and Brandon Saad for 66:40 in 5-on-5 situations.

Saad was moved to the fourth line against the Senators on Thursday, and Shaw, Kane and Patrick Sharp were together. That line didn’t help Kane. The Sharp-Shaw-Kane line had the team’s worst possession numbers. Kane was a minus-9 Corsi against the Senators on Thursday.

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville briefly moved Kane to the fourth line against the St. Louis Blues last week. Kane saw it as a possible message for him to be better.

“I don’t know if he’s trying to switch it up or send me a message or what,” Kane said after last week's game. “You see it happen a lot throughout the season. I know I should have probably been better [against the Blues.] He’s got to do what he’s got to do, I guess. ... I think I'm not really generating much chances. Obviously when you’re out there for two goals against, that’s not good either. Try to get better here as the season goes on, especially [the next game.]”

Kane’s start doesn’t necessarily means he’s headed to a mediocre season. He had eight points through 10 games last season and finished with 69 points, which included 25 points during a career-high 14-game points streak. He’s averaging 0.42 points per 60 minutes this season and has never averaged less than 1.67 points in 5-on-5 situations.

History says Kane will get going at some point. The Blackhawks would obviously prefer for that to happen sooner than later.