Vancouver survived blowing a three-goal lead in the third period to down Chicago 5-3 in their West semi-final.
Sami Salo restored the Canucks advantage with 1:13 remaining before Ryan Johnson sealed the win with an empty-netter with 15 seconds left.
Pavol Demitra scored on a power play at 15:22 of the first to put the Canucks ahead before Henrik Sedin doubled the lead five minutes into the second from twin brother Daniel's pass from below the goal line.
And Ryan Kesler added to the advantage just over 10 minutes later after converting Kyle Wellwood's pass from behind the net.
But just over a minute into the third, Patrick Kane hit back for Chicago as he pounced on a loose puck in the slot and lifted it over Roberto Luongo.
Kane pulled the Blackhawks to within one on a power-play rebound with just under 10 minutes remaining before David Bolland tied the contest at 14:31 on another rebound.
But Salo tapped home after Nikolai Khabibulin had made a sliding save to deny Steve Bernier.
Luongo made 28 saves for the Canucks, who will look to double their lead in the series at home on Saturday.
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