FEATURE: 17 Seconds to Remember

A rivalry built on history.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins share a rivalry that spans nearly a century. The 598 regular-season matchups against the Bruins rank as the third-most for the Blackhawks against any NHL team, making this one of the league’s most storied Original Six rivalries.

While separated by conference alignments—Chicago in the West and Boston in the East—their matchups are a testament to tradition and competition. That tradition reached its peak in 2013, when 17 seconds sealed a Stanley Cup championship for the Blackhawks and added a legendary chapter to their history with the Bruins.

Playoff Beginnings

The first-ever meeting between the two Original Six teams came on November 20, 1926—a game in which the Blackhawks won 5-1. It was the start of a long history, as the teams would go on to play 598 regular-season games and meet 28 times in the playoffs over the next century.

The Bruins dominated much of the early playoff matchups with Chicago, winning four straight series before the Blackhawks broke through in 1975. That year, the Blackhawks, a No. 7 seed with 82 points, upset the No. 2 seed Bruins in a best-of-three series during the opening round of the playoffs.

The teams met again in the 1978 Stanley Cup quarterfinals. Both had won their divisions, but Boston swept the Blackhawks in three games. Despite standout seasons from goalie Tony Esposito, Ivan Boldirev, and rookie defenseman Doug Wilson, Chicago couldn’t overcome the depth of the Bruins.

That series marked the final playoff meeting between the two teams until the 2013 Stanley Cup Final.

Old Ties Redefined

The 2013 Final brought together these two top teams and delivered one of the most memorable series in recent history.

Meeting in the postseason for the first time in 35 years, the Blackhawks and Bruins delivered a tightly contested series, with three of the six games going to overtime, including a triple-OT thriller in Game 1 that recorded 117 shots in total. Chicago entered the playoffs as the league's top team, having secured the Presidents' Trophy after a record-setting 24-game point streak to start the season.

Heading into Game 6, Chicago led the series 3-2 but found themselves trailing 2-1 late in the third period, with Boston on the verge of forcing a Game 7 back at the United Center. The TD Garden crowd was electric, sensing another Bruins comeback.

With Corey Crawford pulled for the extra skater and just 76 seconds left, Jonathan Toews set up Bryan Bickell, who scored to tie the game. Moments later, Dave Bolland scored on a rebound off a Johnny Oduya shot to give the Blackhawks the lead. The two goals, scored just 17 seconds apart, stunned the Bruins and their home crowd at TD Garden.

The silence said it all. A game that had seemed destined for overtime—or even a decisive Game 7—was decidedly so, over. In a matter of seconds the Blackhawks had clinched their second Stanley Cup in three years while rewriting their history with Boston at the same time.

No team in NHL history had ever won a Stanley Cup-clinching game in regulation after trailing in the final two minutes. Bolland’s goal still stands as the latest Cup-clinching goal in regulation on record.

The Blackhawks’ win in 2013 added a notable chapter to the rivalry and cemented their place among hockey’s elite, but every game between these two storied franchises carries a piece of history with it.