Dustin Byfuglien

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) ― Big Chicago forward Dustin Byfuglien banged in a pair of power-play rebounds and completed his hat trick in the third period to lift the Blackhawks to a 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks and a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series on Wednesday night.

Kris Versteeg and Marian Hossa also scored, and Antti Niemi made 16 of his 31 saves in the first period. The Blackhawks picked up where they left off in Game 2 when they scored three goals in a third-period comeback win.

Jannik Hansen and Alex Burrows scored and Roberto Luongo made 30 saves for the Canucks, who will try to even the series when they host Game 4 on Friday night.

To do it, Vancouver will have to do a better job on special teams and against Byfuglien.

The Canucks were 0 for 4 on the power play and allowed two goals to Chicago in six times short-handed. Byfuglien played a big role after being moved up from defense to play on the top line with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, who had three assists.

But just like he did in last year's series against Vancouver, the 6-foot-5, 257-pound Byfuglien took his usual position in front of the net on the power play and made the Canucks pay.

Versteeg, who scored the winning goal with 90 seconds left in Game 2, opened the scoring 5:19 in by banging in a loose puck that trickled behind Luongo. Byfuglien then went to work in front of the Canucks goalie on the power play.

Pointless in his first eight playoff games, Byfuglien lifted in a power-play rebound with 3:13 left in the period after Toews won a faceoff cleanly. Luongo bobbled Duncan Keith's unscreened shot from the point.

Hansen pulled the Canucks within a goal midway through the second, but Burrows took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty 2 minutes later. Byfuglien then lifted in another rebound after Toews drove to the net along the goal line. Byfuglien skated along the end boards with his arms raised and taunted the crowd after the goal.

Burrows made up for the undisciplined penalty by snapping a wrist shot from the slot under Niemi's blocker off the rush with 54 seconds left in the period.

Luongo kept the Canucks in it with a sensational stick save off Brian Campbell, but any hope of Vancouver adding to an NHL-leading 13 third-period comebacks ended when Hossa beat Shane O'Brien to a rebound for an easy goal at 7:45.

Byfuglien was back in the spotlight ― and on top of Luongo ― when he was credited with the final goal with 6:02 left. Luongo was in position to make the save before Byfuglien pushed him into the net, but the goal ― orginally given to Kane ― was upheld after a video review.

Despite being up 2-0, the Blackhawks were outplayed for stretches of the opening period and outshot 16-12. But Niemi made a handful of great saves with his pads, throwing the right one out on Jannik Hansen's breakaway, and again on Daniel Sedin alone in tight just after a Canucks power play expired.

NOTES: To make room for Byfuglien, Chicago scratched Vancouver native Troy Brouwer, who scored 22 goals in the regular season but was pointless in eight playoff games. D Jordan Hendry, who played Game 1 but sat out Game 2, took Byfuglien's place on the third defense pairing alongside Brent Sopel. … Fourth line Vancouver C Ryan Johnson returned after missing a month because of a broken foot, but the shot-blocking, penalty-killing specialist was on the ice for the first goal. He also lost the faceoff cleanly to Toews on the second. Speedy rookie Michael Grabner, who scored in Game 1 but played just 4:19 in Game 2, was scratched to make room for Johnson.