With the NHL on pause and the World Championship tournament canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Second City Hockey will look back at Blackhawks playoff games since 2010 with an “On this date in Blackhawks history” series.
Dustin Byfuglien scored a hat trick, and the Blackhawks defeated the Canucks 5-2 to take a 2-1 series lead in the 2010 Western Conference semifinals.
Jonathan Toews had three assists, Marian Hossa had a goal and an assist and Patrick Kane had two assists for Chicago, which was 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. Antti Niemi made 31 saves.
Jannik Hansen and Alexandre Burrows each scored, and Sami Salo had two assists for the Canucks, who lost their third straight home playoff games to Chicago. Roberto Luongo made 30 saves.
Kris Versteeg tapped in a loose puck in the crease for a 1-0 Chicago lead at 5:19 of the first period. Hansen had a short breakaway less than a minute later, but Niemi made a save with his right pad to preserve the lead.
Byfuglien scored his first on the power play when he collected a rebound from Duncan Keith’s shot in the high slot and put his own backhand shot past Luongo for a 2-0 lead at 16:47.
Hansen cut the deficit to 2-1 at 9:07 of the second period when he redirected Alex Edler’s blast from the left point.
Byfuglien scored his second on the power play for a 3-1 lead at 11:24 when he lifted a rebound past a falling Loungo. Kane sent a pass from the left face-off circle down to the goal line for Toews, who tried to jam the puck between Luongo’s legs but it bounced off his goalie pads for Byfuglien to score.
Burrows made it 3-2 with 54 seconds remaining in the second when he finished an odd man rush with a wrist shot from the slot.
Patrick Sharp fired a wrist shot from the right circle that bounced off Luongo’s left pad to Hossa, who tucked a shot past the goalie’s right skate for a 4-2 lead at 7:45 of the third.
Byfuglien completed his hat trick at 13:58 when he followed Kane’s shot to the net and bulldozed his way past Edler to push the puck across the line for the 5-2 final.
Other games
The Blackhawks were 2-1 this past decade on May 5, with their lone loss a 3-2 overtime defeat the Wild in Game 3 of the 2013 Western Conference quarterfinals. Kane had primary assists on Johnny Oduya and Keith’s goals, but Jason Zucker scored 2:15 into overtime for Minnesota to make it a 2-1 series.
Chicago then defeated the Wild 1-0 in Game 3 of the 2015 Western Conference semifinals. Kane scored the lone goal on the power play in the first period, and Corey Crawford made 30 saves.