photo credit: AP Photo/Paul Sakuma
DUCKS TAKE OPENER IN SAN JOSE
Here they go again. The Presidents’ Trophy-winning Sharks could not get a puck through Jonas Hiller in his playoff debut Thursday night and lost Game 1 to Anaheim, 2-0. Hiller stopped 35 San Jose shots and helped the Ducks kill off six power plays. Ryan Getzlaf setup Scott Niedermayer’s man-advantage goal early in the second period and scored himself with 2:25 to play. Game 2 is Sunday night.
BLACKHAWKS EXTINGUISH FLAMES IN OVERTIME
The Blackhawks needed an extra 12 seconds to earn their first playoff victory in seven years Thursday night at United Center. They erased two one-goal deficits in regulation, then had Martin Havlat score on the first shot of overtime to defeat the Flames, 3-2. It was the third-fastest OT goal in NHL playoff history and was Havlat’s second tally of the night. He forced overtime by scoring off his own rebound with 5:33 left in the third period. Cam Barker, David Moss and Mike Cammalleri scored the other goals in regulation. Nikolai Khabibulin turned away 23 stops to improve to 22-5-2 lifetime versus Calgary. Game 2 is Saturday night.
BRUINS OUTSLUG CANADIENS IN GAME ONE
After blowing a two-goal first period lead, the Bruins retook the lead for good on Zdeno Chara’s goal at 11:15 of the third period. Phil Kessel scored into an empty net, his second goal of the night, to provide the 4-2 final score. After Kessel’s empty-netter is where this game got interesting as Maxim Lapierre took Kessel after he scored, prompting Milan Lucic to jump Lapierre. The two sides also came together at the final horn with Mike Komisarek bloodying Matt Hunwick’s right eye with a few rabbit punches.
David Krejci also scored for Boston, while Chris Higgins and Alex Kovalev scored for Montreal, which is now 0-4-0 in Beantown this season. Tim Thomas made 26 saves. Carey Price had 35, but fell to 5-7 in the playoffs. Game 2 is Saturday night.
RED WINGS INTRODUCE BLUE JACKETS TO PLAYOFF HOCKEY
Jonathan Ericsson, Niklas Kronwall and Johan Franzen scored during a nine-minute stretch bridging the second and third periods to lead Detroit past Columbus, 4-1, at Joe Louis Arena. The Blue Jackets looked steady in their first ever playoff game until Manny Malhotra deflected Ericsson’s point shot with a glove into his own net. Kronwall scored 48 seconds later to seemingly put Columbus away. Jiri Hudler and R.J. Umberger were your other goal scorers. Steve Mason stopped 30 Jacket shots, while Chris Osgood made 20 in his 261st playoff appearance. Game 2 is Saturday night.
IN OTHER NEWS…
The Minnesota Wild are not renewing the contract of President & General Manager Doug Risebrough. The decision from owner Craig Leipold came five days after head coach Jacques Lemaire stepped down. Lemaire and Risebrough had led the organization for all 10 years of its existence. Leipold said he decided Risebrough’s fate a month ago, with a long playoff run capable of saving his job. The Wild are missing the postseason after winning the Northwest Division last season.
Flyers winger Daniel Carcillo has been suspended for Game 2 in Pittsburgh because he butt-ended Penguins center Maxime Talbot in the closing seconds of the opener. Philadelphia head coach John Stevens was also fined $10,000. The League says it will not tolerate teams trying to “send a message” late in playoff games.
FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE
Flyers @ Penguins 7:00pm ET (Versus/CBC, PIT leads, 1-0)
Hurricanes @ Devils 7:30 (TSN, NJ leads, 1-0)
Blues @ Canucks (Versus/CBC, VAN leads, 1-0)
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