ANAHEIM, California — After all the hype around the star power in the Western Conference finals, it was a twice-drafted Danish goalie and a cast of role players that stole the spotlight in Game 1 of the series.
The Anaheim Ducks defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 at Honda Center on Sunday afternoon to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven showdown.
Defenseman Hampus Lindholm and right winger Jakob Silfverberg each contributed a goal and an assist while right winger Kyle Palmieri and center Nate Thompson also lit the lamp for Anaheim.
Center Brad Richards scored for Chicago.
Meanwhile, Anaheim nearly had its first 2015 playoff game without a point from either center Ryan Getzlaf, right winger Corey Perry or center Ryan Kesler. Getzlaf got a late assist on an empty-net goal.
Similarly, Chicago saw its marquee players — center Jonathan Toews and wingers Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp — leave a total void on the score sheet.
“It makes a difference at this time of year when guys chip in and it feels good to help the team and get a big win,” said Ducks left winger Andrew Cogliano.
Anaheim goalie Frederik Andersen stopped 32 of 33 Blackhawks’ shots while Chicago’s Corey Crawford made 23 saves in defeat. Andersen’s first-period save on Kane saw him challenge high in his crease then lunge over and narrowly clip the puck with his stick.
“I played aggressive and he was patient, trying to get me moving laterally,” Andersen said. “I knew that I had to try and throw my stick over.”
In the third period, Andersen made three stops in a 10-second span during one power play and then helped the penalty kill succeed again after Kesler took a minor. Those sequences jump-started the Ducks offense and swung the game.
“I think that was probably the turning point; we lost momentum in the game,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said.
Cogliano had two solid scoring chances and then figured into the breakthrough goal, which came at 12:05 of the third period and gave the Ducks a 3-1 lead. His wrist shot leapt off Crawford’s pad into the low slot, allowing Thompson to pop it into the net.
Silfverberg would seal the victory with an empty-net goal at 18:42. He now has 13 points, tying him for the second most in the playoffs with Getzlaf, Kane and Tampa Bay’s Tyler Johnson.
Rangers 2, Lightning 1
NEW YORK — Dominic Moore scored late in the third period to lead the New York Rangers a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the opening game of their NHL Eastern Conference final on Saturday.
After a scoreless opening period, the Rangers opened the scoring with just 13 seconds left in the second period.
Derek Stepan, the hero of Game 7 with his overtime goal to put New York past Washington and into the conference final, slammed a Chris Kreider rebound past a sprawling Ben Bishop.
The Lightning rallied to even the score in the third period with Ondrej Palat’s power- play tally with just less than seven minutes left in regulation.
The game looked headed to overtime before Kevin Hayes threw the puck in front of Tampa’s goal, where it bounced off Moore and into the open net with 2:25 left for the winner.