2010 Western Conference Quarterfinals Game 7 vs. Kings

Lore & Background

The 2010 series against the Kings was a gritty, defensive slog, with each game decided by a single goal—a war of attrition where every shift felt like a chess match. The Canucks had seized a 3-1 series lead, only to watch the Kings claw back with two straight wins, tightening the screws on a team haunted by a second-round exit the year before. The pressure was immense: this was a Canucks squad desperate to prove their playoff mettle, to shed the label of a team that folded under the spotlight. Game 7 became a microcosm of the series: tight-checking, tense, and ultimately decided by a moment of individual brilliance that would echo through the ages.

In Their Own Story

The crowd at Rogers Arena was a nervous sea of blue and green, a living, breathing knot of anxiety as the third period wound down. The Canucks had built a 3-1 lead, only to see it evaporate as the Kings tied the game 3-3 late in the third—a gut-punch that left the building in stunned silence. Overtime loomed, a sudden-death abyss where one mistake could end the season. Then, in the first overtime, a scramble in front of the Kings' net. The puck squirted free to Alexandre Burrows, who, with a quick, instinctive backhand, flipped it past Kings goalie Jonathan Quick. The red light flashed. For a split second, the arena held its breath—then it erupted in a deafening roar. Burrows was mobbed by his teammates, buried under a pile of blue and green, and the Canucks had survived, their season still alive.

Reader's Guide

The score is 3-3, the series is tied 3-3 in games, and the crowd is a cacophony of nervous energy—a low hum of dread and hope. The first overtime period is just minutes old. The puck is cycled deep into the Kings' zone by the Canucks' Sedin line, a patient, probing attack. Henrik Sedin feeds Daniel Sedin along the half-wall. Daniel's shot is blocked, but the puck bounces to the slot. Burrows, positioned at the top of the crease, bats the puck out of mid-air and past Quick's glove—a blur of instinct and precision. The arena explodes. The Canucks pour off the bench, a pile of bodies on the ice, arms and legs tangled in celebration. The Kings skate off in stunned silence, their season over in a flash. The image that sticks: Burrows, arms raised, being swallowed by his teammates as the horn sounds, a moment of pure, unscripted joy.

Did You Know?

• This was the first time the Canucks had won a Game 7 in overtime in franchise history.
• The goal was scored just 1:15 into the first overtime period.
• Alexandre Burrows also scored the series-clinching goal in the previous round against the Chicago Blackhawks in 2011.
• The Kings would go on to win the Stanley Cup two years later, in 2012.