Patrick Kane scored in the first period for Chicago, and Corey Crawford and the Blackhawks made the superstar's goal stand up for a 1-0 win over the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.
Chicago took a commanding 3-0 lead in the Western Conference semi-final series. Game 4 is in Minnesota again on Thursday.
Kane has six goals and five assists in nine playoff games, bouncing back just fine from the broken collarbone that kept him out of the last quarter of the regular season.
Crawford made 30 saves, giving him 90 on 94 shots in the three games. Stifled time after time on chance after chance, the Wild have scored just once over their last 150-plus minutes on the ice.
The Blackhawks last led a playoff series 3-0 in the Western Conference finals against San Jose in 2010, when they went on to win the Stanley Cup.
Meanwhile in Calgary, Mikael Backlund scored on a delayed penalty call in overtime as the Flames beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3.
Johnny Gaudreau scored with 19.5 seconds left in the third period to tie the game for the Flames, who had an apparent goal disallowed minutes earlier.
Anaheim leads the second-round Western Conference series 2-1, with Game 4 on Friday night at the Saddledome.
Joe Colborne had a short-handed goal for Calgary, while Brandon Bollig also connected. But Sam Bennett's close-in shot, which seemed to barely sneak over the goal line, was disallowed in the third period after a video review.
Patrick Maroon, Corey Perry and Matt Beleskey scored for the Ducks in their first loss in these playoffs after they swept Winnipeg.
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