2013 – 14 Chicago Blackhawks season The 2013 – 14 Chicago Blackhawks season was the 88th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on September 25 , 1926 . The Blackhawks were attempting to repeat as Stanley Cup champions , a feat that had not been accomplished in the NHL since the Detroit Red Wings won consecutive championships in 1997 and 1998 . Regular season . As the defending Stanley Cup Champions , the Blackhawks kicked off the 2013 – 14 regular season on October 1 , 2013 , with a 30 minute Banner Raising Ceremony at the United Center to celebrate its historical 2012 – 13 season . Banners were raised to mark the Blackhawks ' s clinch of the Central Division , Western Conference , Presidents ' Trophy and the Stanley Cup Championship . The Blackhawks then went on to defeat the Washington Capitals in its home opener , and became the first team since the 2008 – 09 Pittsburgh Penguins to do so . However , unlike the previous season where the Blackhawks were undefeated for the first six games of the season , they quickly fell against the Tampa Bay Lightning and division rival St . Louis Blues in the next two games . On October 15 , with a win against the Carolina Hurricanes , the Blackhawks celebrated its 2 , 500th regular season win in franchise history . On January 29 , with a win against the Vancouver Canucks , Joel Quenneville reached 693 coaching wins , moving him into sole possession of 3rd place in all time wins . On February 3 , the Blackhawks played their 6 , 000th regular season game in franchise history with a 5 – 3 win over the Los Angeles Kings . On March 1 , the Blackhawks played in their 2nd outdoor game in franchise history at Soldier Field , Home of the Chicago Bears football team . The outdoor game was in part of the new NHL Stadium Series . The Blackhawks hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins as Captains Jonathan Toews and Sidney Crosby would play against each other for the first time ever . In front of a sold out crowd of 62 , 921 , The Blackhawks defeated the Penguins 5 - 1 in a classic winter storm setting . On March 19 , with a win against the rival St . Louis Blues , Joel Quenneville reached 700 coaching wins . Schedule and results . Regular season . Legend : Playoffs . The Blackhawks qualified for the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season . As the 3rd seed in the Central division , the Blackhawks played the 2nd seed of the Central against the St . Louis Blues in the season ' s new playoff format . During the first round against the St . Louis Blues the Blackhawks fell to an early 2 – 0 deficit in the series with two overtime losses of 4 – 3 each in St . Louis . The Blackhawks would rally back with 4 consecutive wins to win the best of 7 series . In game 3 , Corey Crawford ' s stellar performance earned him a 2 – 0 shutout and the 1st star of the game . In Game 4 , the Blackhawks had a 2 – 1 lead until the Blues tied the game with 4 . 6 seconds left in the 2nd period . The Blues would take the lead in the 3rd period with 7 : 33 left . The Blackhawks tied the game at 3 with Bryan Bickell ' s redirect with 3 : 52 left . In overtime Patrick Kane would score the game - winning goal with 8 : 43 left . With the series tied 2 , game 5 would return to St . Louis with another overtime game as Jonathan Toews scored on a breakaway with 12 : 25 left to take a 3 – 2 series lead back to Chicago . In game 6 the Hawks would take 1 – 1 tie into the 3rd period . The Blackhawks would score 4 goals from Jonathan Toews , Patrick Sharp , Andrew Shaw and Duncan Keith to win the game 5 – 1 and the series 4 – 2 . The Blackhawks played the Minnesota Wild in the Conference Semifinals , a rematch of 2013 Conference Quarterfinals where the Hawks won in 5 games . This time around , the Blackhawks won in 6 games . On May 4 , Joel Quenneville won his 800th coached NHL game for both the regular season and playoffs combined . The Blackhawks won Game 2 against the Wild 4 – 1 . In a back - and - forth series against the Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference Finals , the Blackhawks lost in 7 games . Player statistics . Goaltenders . Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Blackhawks . Stats reflect time with the Blackhawks only . Traded mid - season Bold / italics denotes franchise record Transactions . The Blackhawks have been involved in the following transactions during the 2013 – 14 season . Draft picks . The Blackhawks had the following picks at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft , which was held in Newark , New Jersey , on June 30 , 2013 .