In this edition of Flashback Friday, we look back on the Vancouver Canucks’ first round sweep of the St. Louis Blues in 2009.
On Friday night, the Vancouver Canucks will take to the ice for Game 6 against the St. Louis Blues, looking to win their first playoff series since 2011.
The Canucks stunned the defending Stanley Cup champions with three unanswered goals in Game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead. If they can defeat the Blues tonight, Vancouver will set up a second round showdown with the top-seeded Vegas Golden Knights.
So for this edition of Flashback Friday, what’s more fitting than the last time the Canucks faced the Blues in an elimination game?
We’d have to back to 11 years ago. Game 4 on Apr. 21, 2009. Vancouver entered that contest a 3-0 series lead.
That year, the Canucks finished as the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference with a 45-27-10 record. Led by the Sedin twins, Ryan Kesler and a breakout year from Alexandre Burrows (28 goals and 51 points), Vancouver did just enough to clinch its second Northwest Division title in three years.
They met a red-hot Blues team that went 9-1-1 to close out the regular season. This was a tight and very defensive series, but Vancouver only allowed a trio of goals in the first three games to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.
Goals from Kyle Wellwood and Burrows helped Vancouver build a 2-0 lead in the second period, but St. Louis quickly scored twice to even things up. Nobody scored in the third period, setting the stage for Burrows to play hero (again).
With that, the Canucks eliminated the Blues from the postseason for the third time in 14 years (they also did it in 1995 and 2003).
Vancouver’s Stanley Cup quest ended at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round. But having missed the postseason the year before (leading to the departures of general manager Dave Nonis, captain Markus Naslund and fan favourite Brendan Morrison), 2008-09 was simply a highly successful and thrilling turnaround season in Vancouver.
Here we are 11 years later, and the Canucks have a chance to once again end the Blues’ season.