ANAHEIM DUCKS left wing Matt Beleskey (39) and Ryan Kesler (17) celebrate Hampus Lindholm’s (47) goal during the first period of Game 1 of the Western Conference finals at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on Sunday.

ANAHEIM DUCKS left wing Matt Beleskey (39) and Ryan Kesler (17) celebrate Hampus Lindholm’s (47) goal during the first period of Game 1 of the Western Conference finals at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on Sunday.

ANAHEIM, Calif.

Hampus Lindholm, Nate Thompson and Jakob Silfverberg each had a goal and an assist, and the Anaheim Ducks opened the Western Conference finals with a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.

Frederik Andersen made 32 saves and Kyle Palmieri also scored for the Ducks. They opened their first conference finals in eight years with a strong all-around performance while improving to 9-1 in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Both teams’ top offensive stars were shut down in the opener, but the Ducks’ supporting cast contributed timely scoring, capped by Thompson’s goal with 7:55 to play and Silfverberg’s empty-net goal with 1:18 left.

Brad Richards scored late in the second period and Corey Crawford stopped 23 shots for Chicago, which hadn’t lost since April 23.

Game 2 is Tuesday night in Anaheim.

Andersen was 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.

Advertisement

The Ducks’ tall Danish goalie made a handful of spectacular saves in the third when Chicago pressed after Thompson made it 3-1 in a sequence created by speedy Andrew Cogliano.

Rangers 2, Lightning 1

NEW YORK (AP) — Dominic Moore scored with 2:25 to play and the New York Rangers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday.

The game-winning goal came just 30 seconds after Moore stepped out of the penalty box, and it capped another nail-biter for the Rangers, who have played 15 consecutive one-goal games in the postseason.

Derek Stepan, who scored the Game 7 winner against Washington on Wednesday night, also scored and Henrik Lundqvist made 23 saves.

Ondrej Palat tied the game on a power-play goal early in the third period. Ben Bishop had 28 saves for the Lightning in losing to New York for the first time in nine games.

Game 2 will be played at Madison Square Garden tonight.


Copy the Story Link

Comments are not available on this story.