This Day in Blackhawks History: Hawks knot series in 8-6 win

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James
May 12, 2022 (9:19 PM)

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The Chicago Blackhawks and Edmonton Oilers were familiar playoff adversaries in the 1980s. In 1983, Edmonton swept the Hawks 4-0, outscoring them 25-11. Entering the 1985 conference finals, Chicago faced a tall task. Not only were the Oilers the defending Stanley Cup champions led by 208 point scorer Wayne Gretzky, they scored over 400 goals during the regular season.

Edmonton outscored the Hawks 18-5 in the first two games. The Hawks bounced back with a 5-2 Game 3 win and evened up the series on this date 37 years ago with an 8-6 win.

The two teams combined for eight first period goals with tallies from Darryl Sutter, Eddie Olczyk, Denis Savard, Curt Fraser and Al Secord, accounting for a 5-3 Chicago lead. Savard led the team during the regular season (105) and postseason (29) in scoring.

Steve Larmer added a goal in each of the final two periods and Bob Murray put a cap on the scoring at the 5:24 mark of the third. The Oilers added two goals in the final 3:20, but the outcome was long decided.

The win evened the series, but Edmonton rolled over the final two games, outscoring them 18-7 to win the series 4-2. Edmonton set all-time playoff marks with most goals in one series, most goals in a six-game series and both clubs set records with most total goals in a semifinal series and most total goals in one six-game series. The Oilers' Jari Kurri scored three hat tricks in the series, setting a NHL record, which still stands to this day. Edmonton went on to win their second consecutive Stanley Cup.

Unfortunately for the Hawks, they would only win one of their 11 playoff games over the next three seasons.