In the second half of the season, he registered a team record point-scoring streak that lasted 12 games (five goals and 22 points) between February 7 and March 4, 1980. The streak broke Dennis Kearns' 11-game mark, set three years prior in March 1977. Shortly after the streak ended, he notched his first NHL career hat trick against the goaltender Pat Riggin during a game against the Atlanta Flames on March 7. Nearly a month later, he notched four assists in one game – a 5–0 win against the Edmonton Oilers on April 1, 1980. The following campaign, Smyl was involved in an on-ice incident during a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 17, 1981. During the first period, opposing forward Gary Rissling speared him in the face. Joined by several teammates, Smyl began fighting Rissling. Consequently, Smyl and Rissling both received minor penalties for roughing and major penalties for fighting, while additionally being ejected from the game. A week later, Rissling received a four-game suspension from NHL executive vice president Brian O'Neill. Smyl was not injured on the play and appeared in all 80 games for the Canucks in 1980–81, notching 25 goals and 63 points. Early in the 1981–82 season, Smyl recorded a five-point game, notching a hat trick and two assists, in an 8–4 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on October 31, 1981. Late in the campaign, he was named team captain, succeeding defenceman Kevin McCarthy, who had broken his ankle during practice. He went on to complete the campaign with 34 goals and 78 points over 80 games. Despite finishing the regular season with a losing record, the Canucks embarked on a playoff run to the franchise's first Stanley Cup Finals in team history. In the fifth and deciding game of the semi-finals against the Chicago Black Hawks, Smyl notched two goals in a 6–2 win to capture the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl as conference champions, sending the Canucks to the Finals. Facing the New York Islanders, who had finished the regular season 41 points ahead of the Canucks and had won the Stanley Cup the previous two years, they were swept in four games. Smyl scored the Canucks' only goal in their 3–1 defeat in game four, tying the game at 1–1 in the first period on his own rebound before Mike Bossy scored twice to secure the Islanders' win. Smyl accumulated 19 points