While Vancouver Canucks fans enjoy watching the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs from the other side of the window, all they can do is reminisce on the good ol’ days of previous postseason runs. And that’s what we have for you today.

On this day 15 years ago, arguably the biggest goal in franchise history was scored: when Alex Burrows slayed the dragon.

There was so much pressure on the Canucks entering this postseason, especially in their opening series against their bitter rivals. the Chicago Blackhawks.

Having lost to the Blackhawks in the second round of back-to-back seasons (2009 and 2010), they became the Canucks’ kryptonite.

In 2009, the Canucks came into their Western Conference semi-final matchup with a ton of confidence after sweeping the St. Louis Blues. And they carried that momentum over into Game 1, where they beat the Blackhawks 5-3 to take a 1-0 series lead. They went on to lose Game 2, but quickly retook the series lead after a 3-1 Game 3 victory. And they had the opportunity to put the stranglehold on the series in Game 4, when the game was sent to overtime. However, an Andrew Ladd goal not even three minutes into the extra frame tilted the tides in the Blackhawks’ favour, as they went on to win Games 5 and 6 and stole the series from Vancouver.

The two teams met again in 2010, and the Canucks were eager to get their revenge, winning in commanding fashion with a 5-1 Game 1 victory. Unfortunately, the Blackhawks went on to win three straight, outscoring the Canucks 16-8 in those games, putting them on the brink of elimination. The Canucks extended the series with a 4-1 win in Game 5 but couldn’t send it back to Chicago, losing Game 6… again.

But 2011 was different. Entering the series, the Canucks had the edge. They were coming off their first Presidents’ Trophy and the best season in franchise history. Their roster was littered with award winners and nominees, as Daniel Sedin won the Art Ross Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award, Ryan Kesler won the Frank J. Selke Trophy, and goaltenders Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider won the William M. Jennings Trophy. Even their executives earned some league recognition, as Mike Gillis won the GM of the year award, and Alain Vigneault finished second to Dan Bylsma for the Jack Adams Award.

Despite all the accolades, it almost felt unfair that their first-round matchup was against their kryptonite and defending Stanley Cup Champion Blackhawks. But it was a bit of a down year for the Blackhawks; they finished third in the Central Division and narrowly edged out the Dallas Stars for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Nonetheless, the Canucks had a job to do, and they started about as well as they could. Chris Higgins and Jannik Hansen scored the only two goals of the game en route to a 2-0 Game 1 victory. But winning the first game was never an issue for the Canucks in the previous two years, as they had won both Game 1s before. They just could never take a 2-0 series lead, until this year.

Hansen scored early in Game 2, and then the Canucks continued to pour it on, as Daniel Sedin and Alex Edler added to the Canucks’ tally, and they took a 3-1 lead heading into the second intermission. Chicago brought the game back to within one early in the third, but Daniel gave the Canucks the insurance marker halfway through the third. That goal stood as the game-winner, as Ben Smith scored shortly after, but the Canucks shut the door after that.

Heading back to Chicago, the Blackhawks took an early first-period lead in Game 3 off the stick of Duncan Keith. Christian Ehrhoff and Daniel Sedin tied and gave the Canucks the lead within a minute of each other halfway through the second, only for Patrick Sharp to even up the game shortly after. Mikael Samuelsson’s third-period goal wound up giving the Canucks a 3-0 series lead.

It appeared that they were finally going to beat the Blackhawks. They just needed to win one of the next four games, and they would have finally beaten their kryptonite. But it’s never that easy, is it? That fourth win is the hardest one to win, and the Canucks didn’t make it easy on themselves.

Facing elimination in front of their home fans, the Blackhawks pounded the Canucks 7-2. And did so again back in Vancouver for Game 5, winning 5-0. At this point, the momentum had clearly shifted into the Blackhawks’ favour.

Heading back to Chicago for Game 6, Vancouver put forth a better effort. They took an early lead off a Daniel Sedin wrap-around, and had a 2-1 lead after the first period. The Blackhawks tied the game at 2-2 in the second. Kevin Bieksa re-gave the Canucks the lead early in the third, only for Michael Frolik to tie the game again less than two minutes later on a penalty shot and send the game to overtime. With a chance to advance to the second round, the Canucks had a solid overtime period with 12 shots, but it was Ben Smith who lit the lamp and sent the series to Game 7.

On the verge of what would be one of the biggest collapses in NHL history, the Canucks had all the pressure on them. Presidents’ Trophy winners, against their nemesis, the Blackhawks, in front of their home fans, could they avoid the reverse sweep?

Less than three minutes into the first period, Ryan Kesler made a strong power move into the zone, cut to the net and centred it for Burrows in the slot to give Canucks fans a sign of relief. But then the Blackhawks started coming, and Luongo had to be sharp, making a handful of high-danger stops to keep his team up one after the first.

The Canucks were the far more physical team to this point, setting the tone that they weren’t going to go down easy in this one. Although the Blackhawks were trailing, the Canucks dominated the second period, outshooting them 16-5. But they just could not beat Corey Crawford to get that elusive insurance marker.

And they carried that momentum over into the third period. Burrows was able to burn past Keith in the first 15 seconds of the game to spring himself on a breakaway. Keith hauled him down, and Burrows was awarded a penalty shot. Burrows came in with speed and made a move to the forehand, but could not beat Crawford.

The Blackhawks kept coming, but Luongo remained tall and kept his team in it. As time was winding down, Keith took a hooking penalty on Burrows, sending the Canucks to the power play with under four minutes to go. Despite being down a man, the Blackhawks were in attack mode to keep their season alive, and they did when Jonathan Toews shovelled a rebound in shorthanded to tie the game with less than two minutes remaining.

Off to overtime they went. And the Canucks nearly lost the game early when Burrows took a holding penalty on Keith 24 seconds into overtime. Toews dangled behind the net enough to get his pass around the diving Bieksa to Sharp, but Luongo made a great blocker save sliding across to the other side of his net and poked the puck out of danger.

After surviving a near disaster, Canucks history was changed forever.

Ex-Canuck and potential future Canucks GM Ryan Johnson cleared the zone with a hard shot off the boards for the Blackhawks that went straight to Hambuis at centre ice. The Canuck defenceman sends a backhand floater back into the Chicago end to Chris Campoli. Burrows sneaks along the blueline out of the vision of Campoli, who attempts to just flick the puck out.

Burrows catches the puck, drops it, and bursts into the slot with a wide-open look on Crawford. With very little time to get the shot off, Burrows slaps the rolling puck into the top left corner.

General Motors Place erupts. Canucks win. Alex Burrows slays the dragon.

Watch the full Game 7 highlights below!

In what has been an atrocious season, at least Canucks fans can look back fondly on the memories made back in 2011 – none bigger than when Alex Burrows slayed the dragon on this day 15 years ago.