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Big Buff Snags Hat Trick in Hawks Game 3 Win

Written by: EricC on 6th May 2010

The Chicago Blackhawks grabbed Game 3 from the Vancouver Canucks thanks, in part, to a Hat Trick from….Patrick Kane? Marian Hossa? Nope, none other than Dustin Byfuglien! The large forward snagged his first NHL Post Season Hat Trick. Ironically, or maybe not, Buff had a two goal game against the Canucks in last season’s playoffs, but just couldn’t seal the deal. The Hawks have one more game in Vancouver before returning to Chicago, and if they can pull off that win, they’ll have a chance to clinch Round 2 back home.

Only five minutes into the game, Kris Versteeg continued where he left off in Game 2; the goal, with an assist from Hossa, gave Chicago the early lead. With nearly three minutes left in the first period, Byfuglien took advantage of a Power Play, grabbing his first goal of the game, and the Post Season.

In the ninth minute of the second period, Vancouver put the pressure on, making it a one goal difference with another half of the game to go. Luckily, Chicago wasn’t intimidated, and during the 11th minute, Byfuglien scored another Power Play goal. It looked like the Hawks were going to go into period three with a two goal lead, but in the final minute of the period, the Canucks made it 3-2.

A very physical third period, to go along with an already physical game. The score remained unchanged until Hossa made it a two goal difference again, during the seventh minute. Vancouver refused to let up, pounding away eight shots in the period; however, Antti Niemi got a piece of all of them. With a little over six minutes left in the game, Big Buff scored goal number three, bouncing off the skate of a Canuck player.

Niemi was absolutely on fire in this game. The young goalie, who faced some criticism after his performance in Game 1 of the series, had no issues in the game. 31 total saves, only allowing two goals. There were points in this game when Vancouver was relentless, taking multiple shots before the Hawks defense could clear the area. However, Niemi was on top of it, making some insane saves.

Game 4 goes down this Friday, May 7, at 8:30 P.M. CT. A Hawks win will really give Chicago some leverage in the series.