ANAHEIM, Calif. — Goalie Frederik Andersen lunged forward and stretched out his stick, taking a desperate chance to stop Patrick Kane. The Chicago star’s shot somehow glanced off Andersen’s lumber and flew over a painfully open net.
Andersen kept the Anaheim Ducks in the Western Conference finals opener while his teammates got rolling. When they did, the Ducks streaked out to yet another early series lead.
Hampus Lindholm, Nate Thompson and Jakob Silfverberg each had a goal and an assist, and the Ducks beat the Blackhawks 4-1 in Game 1 on Sunday.
Andersen made 32 saves and Kyle Palmieri also scored as the Ducks opened their first conference finals in eight years by improving to 9-1 in these Stanley Cup playoffs. Although the Blackhawks clearly are a major step up in competition, the Ducks’ confidence grew with a strong all-around performance backed by brilliance from their imposing Danish goalie.
“I think everyone in the locker room knows we can beat this team,” said Andersen, who’s in his second NHL season. “It’s a good feeling that we showed it in Game 1. They’re going to come harder. We’ll have to play better in Game 2.”
Game 2 is Tuesday night in Anaheim.
Andersen had to be stellar under a heavy barrage of high-quality shots from the Blackhawks, who had won five straight postseason games heading into their third straight conference finals.
NOTES
RANGERS: Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi have been getting the top defensive assignments for the New York Rangers for years.
In the opening round of the playoffs, they were asked to shut down Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom of the Washington Capitals came in the second round.
In the Eastern Conference finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning, they have drawn “The Triplets,” instead of the more well-known line featuring star Steven Stamkos.
Scratching your head?
Don’t.
The line of Tyler Johnson, 24, centering Nikita Kucherov, 21, and Ondrej Palat, 24 has combined for 18 of the Lightning’s 35 postseason goals.
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