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Dustin Byfuglien, Alex Burrows make impact on second, Chi up 3-2

Dustin Byfuglien

Chicago Blackhawks right wing Dustin Byfuglien celebrates after scoring against the San Jose Sharks during the first period of an NHL hockey game in San Jose, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

AP

For a while there, it was looking like Alex Burrows was going to be the goat of the second period. The high-scoring pest took a bad unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that allowed Chicago to score yet another powerplay goal. We were reminded that Burrows’s only 2010 playoff goal came from an empty netter so far. Well, that is, until the end of the second period, when Burrows buried a shot from off the rush to keep Vancouver in the game. The other big story of this game so far is Dustin Byfuglien. The funny-named forward/defenseman Byfuglien has been called many things. Darren McCarty just called him “linebacker-sized.” The guys at Hockee Night named him the team’s most frustrating player. Some might call him “fugly.” I call him “Buffy the Hamburger Slayer.”

Either way, the big galoot has two powerplay goals already, scoring quickly into each man advantage off of juicy rebounds. His post-goal celebration in the second period is one of the funniest things I’ve seen all day.

The Canucks keep fighting to stay in this one. Jannik Hansen scored his first career playoff goal after what seemed to me to be an eternal shift from the Sedin twins. That one made it 2-1, but Byfuglien’s PP goal almost killed Vancouver’s chances. That is, until Burrows made amends with that big late-period goal.