Playoffs - Tue, 30 Apr - Results

Minnesota v Chicago 1-2 - Game 1 - If the rest of this Stanley Cup Playoff series is anything like the opener on Tuesday night, fans better carve out time now to watch the remaining games between the Minnesota Wild and Chicago Blackhawks. After a back-and-forth overtime filled with scoring chances and big saves, Bryan Bickell finally found the back of the net 16:35 into OT to give the Blackhawks a 2-1 victory against the Wild in Game 1 of their Western Conference Quarterfinal series. Johnny Oduya lobbed a pass over the head of Minnesota defenseman Ryan Suter that Viktor Stalberg chased down, creating a 2-on-1 rush. Stalberg found Bickell streaking down the slot and got him the puck. Bickell then went forehand-to-backhand before sliding the puck through the legs of goaltender Josh Harding, who got the last-second start when Niklas Backstrom left the pregame warm-up early with an unspecified lower-body injury. Chicago's third line of Bickell, center Andrew Shaw and Stalberg was tabbed as one of the X-factors for a Blackhawks team that used impressive depth to roll up 77 points in a 48-game regular season and cashed in big to end the first game. The series resumes Friday night at United Center. Marian Hossa tied it 1-1 early in the second on a power-play goal scored with five seconds remaining in a penalty to Zach Parise for goaltender interference, and that was it for scoring until Bickell's heroics. Harding was fantastic and stopped 35 shots. Corey Crawford made 26 saves for the Blackhawks, including a big stop on Parise's blast from the slot not long before Bickell's game-winner. It was redemption of sorts for Crawford, who wasn't happy with Clutterbuck's goal on an open wrister from the left circle. It was also a bit of redemption for allowing a couple of overtime goals that he probably should've stopped in last season's first-round loss to the Phoenix Coyotes. It was crazy because it had just about every element that makes playoff hockey so nerve-wracking and, often, inspirational. Take Harding, for instance. He hadn't started an NHL game since Jan. 30 in Minnesota, when he was pulled just 6:45 into a game against Chicago after allowing two goals on four shots. The Wild won that one in a shootout, but Harding left the team not long afterward for more than two months while dealing with effects of multiple sclerosis and his adjustment to medication. After battling his way back, he was a big bright spot for Minnesota despite having to make an emergency start when Backstrom was injured during warm-ups. Harding was sharp all game and the Wild did a great job of packing together in front of him to block shots and fill shooting lanes. They blocked 21 shots and made it tough on the Blackhawks' offense. Minnesota also lost defenseman Clayton Stoner for most of the first period after a hit by Shaw, but led 1-0 after 20 minutes on Clutterbuck's goal, his first career playoff tally. Crawford rebounded to make a couple of brilliant saves to deny Kyle Brodziak in the last minute of the first or Chicago would have really been staggered. As expected, the Blackhawks came out strong in the second and tied it 1-1 at 2:06 on Hossa's power-play goal, his 37th career playoff tally. Kane set it up by feeding a perfect pass from the slot to the left circle, where Hossa received it and beat Harding with a wrist shot that re-energized the building. Chicago gradually ramped up the pressure, but Harding remained equal to the task. His team, meanwhile, stayed content to play a defensive game and counterpunch off any turnovers. As a result, the game stayed deadlocked 1-1 into the third, where it was more of the same. Just 1:31 into the final period, Patrick Kane got behind a Wild defenseman and broke in alone against Harding, only to have his wrister denied. Midway through, it looked like the Blackhawks scored a go-ahead goal when Kane chipped a puck into the crease from underneath prone Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon. Jonathan Toews batted it into the net, but the play was whistled dead before Kane touched it because officials lost sight of the puck. Chicago, which outshot Minnesota 22-14 in the last two periods of regulation, kept the pressure on late in the third. Harding came up huge to snare Shaw's slapper from the point with 3:07 remaining. Crawford also made a couple of big saves to keep the game tied. Both teams had a power play in overtime. Oduya was called for high-sticking at 7:34, but Minnesota defenseman Tom Gilbert was called for holding Toews 68 seconds later. The Blackhawks are well-versed in overtime. They went to OT 16 times in the regular season (losing only by shootout five times) and five of the six games in last year's first-round loss to the Coyotes ended in OT.
Los Angeles v St Louis 1-2 - Game 1 - Alexander Steen called it a fortunate play. The St. Louis Blues called it poetic justice. The Blues felt like they outplayed the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings for nearly 60 minutes, with “nearly” being the key word. But after allowing the tying goal with 31.6 seconds to play in regulation, it could have been not only a deflating goal in the game, but also the series for the Blues. And after defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk was assessed a four-minute double-minor penalty for high-sticking Kings forward Dustin Penner, it gave the Kings a chance to steal a game. But Steen's second goal of the game, a shorthanded tally in overtime, gave the Blues a 2-1 victory in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Tuesday at Scottrade Center. With Shattenkirk in the box, Steen deflected Kings goalie Jonathan Quick's passing attempt from behind the net and wrapped a backhand effort into the net 13:26 into the overtime period for the Blues' first win against Los Angeles in nine games. They were 0-7-1 dating back to last season. Quick, who was stellar with 40 saves, looked to make a play to his right but had his effort picked. In an instant, the game was over. Quick was the only reason the game didn't get out of hand for the visitors, who went 16-4 during the 2012 postseason. The Kings gave themselves a chance when Justin Williams got the equalizer with 31.6 seconds remaining in regulation. It's one game, but the Blues, at least for one night, got that monkey that was beginning to look like a gorilla off their backs. The Blues opened the postseason against the defending champions with not only a mission, but to prove to themselves that they can beat the Kings. Brian Elliott continued his winning ways this month with 28 saves as the Blues had dropped three straight overtime playoff games dating back to May 16, 2001, Scott Young’s double-overtime winner against the Colorado Avalanche. It was a dominating first period by the Blues that saw them get the lone goal, but the Kings were on the doorstep in the closing seconds looking for the tie. Quick made a pad stop on Shattenkirk's point shot on the power play, but kicked the rebound into the slot, where Steen snapped a one-timer into the top corner 9:05 into the game for a 1-0 lead. The Blues' forecheck created all sorts of havoc, but St. Louis was unable to extend the 1-0 lead. Quick did make the best save to open the game, stacking the pads when Roman Polak got a saucer feed in alone from Vladimir Sobotka, but was robbed by the Kings' netminder with 12:11 left in the period. Elliott made the first of two solid stops on Jeff Carter with under five minutes left in the period after a failed clearing attempt by Polak. The Kings had a late first-period power play and Elliott was up to the challenge again on Carter on the doorstep after Drew Doughty's shot pin-balled around the crease, and Elliott got a left skate on Carter's backhand attempt that kicked off the right post with a few seconds left. Quick continued to hold the Kings within striking distance through 40 minutes with a pair of point-blank stops on Jaden Schwartz off a Steen feed right at the top of the crease in the second period. Quick also benefited from David Backes ringing one off the right post 7:40 into the period. Quick again was up to the task, robbing Backes from in tight with 9:15 remaining in the game, then holding his position on Schwartz seconds later to keep the game 1-0. With Quick pulled for an extra attacker, Williams used a sliding Barret Jackman as a screen and snapped a near-side shot into the near side with 31.6 seconds remaining to tie the game 1-1 after the Blues failed to put the defending champs away. The Blues took a 1-0 series lead and will host Game 2 on Thursday in St. Louis before the series shifts to Los Angeles for Games 3 and 4 Saturday and Monday.
Detroit v Anaheim 1-3 - Game 1 - Who else but Teemu Selanne could set the tone for this series? The face of the Anaheim Ducks is already enemy No. 1 in the minds of Detroit Red Wings fans for his overtime winner in Game 5 of the 2007 Western Conference Finals, and he added another dagger to this fiery rivalry Tuesday night. Selanne snapped a shot from the left hash mark that knuckled past Jimmy Howard's shoulder 1:29 into the third period to break a tie as Anaheim beat Detroit 3-1 on Tuesday night to take Game 1 of their Western Conference Quarterfinal series. Selanne's 42nd career playoff goal, a power-play tally set up by Jakub Kindl's delay-of-game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass, translated to the Ducks' first postseason victory since 2011. Jonas Hiller was outstanding with 21 saves, including a glove stop on Brendan Smith in the third period, and recorded his first postseason win since 2009. Francois Beauchemin added a length-of-the-ice empty net goal. Game 2 is scheduled for Thursday at Honda Center. Eleven of Hiller's saves came in the final 20 minutes. It was a strong performance after there was slight doubt as to whether he would get the start over Viktor Fasth. Hiller was previously 3-7-1 against Detroit. Detroit ultimately could not break through Anaheim's defense. It put 12 shots on goal through 45 minutes before a final push. Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau used the Daniel Winnik-Saku Koivu-Andrew Cogliano line and Beauchemin-Cam Fowler defensive pairing against Pavel Datsyuk's line, which generated four shots total in the first two periods. Before the series, Detroit coach Mike Babcock placed significance on playing well into the playoffs, the Red Wings won four in a row to close the regular season. But Babcock said his forwards got forced to the outside. The game settled into a special teams trade-off in the second as both sides had two power-play chances. Howard was quite active with 10 saves in the period and finished with 24. But Detroit didn't have its cohesiveness. Detroit withstood early pressure and got a 1-1 tie into the first intermission after Ryan Getzlaf and Winnik took overlapping tripping and hooking penalties, respectively. Kindl's shot from the left side hit Daniel Cleary and found the net as Getzlaf was skating into the play from the box. The game was prefaced with a video montage to get the home crowd rocking, and the Ducks obliged by grabbing a 1-0 lead on a great play by Nick Bonino. The second-line center won a faceoff from Datsyuk, went to the slot and tipped in Fowler's point shot at 10:24 with Jordin Tootoo serving a cross checking penalty. Bonino missed six weeks with a lower body injury and did not return until April 21. It was his first goal since Feb.27 and first career playoff goal. Beauchemin moved past Scott Niedermayer to become the franchise leader in playoff goals by a Ducks defenseman.