The matchup battle between Anaheim Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau and Chicago Blackhawks bench boss Joel Quenneville began right before the opening faceoff in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final. Boudreau sent out the second line of Matt Beleskey, Ryan Kesler, and Jakob Silfverberg to counter the top grouping of Chicago which consisted of Marian Hossa, Jonathan Toews, and Brandon Saad. Kesler and Toews have a history from Kesler’s days in Vancouver, but today’s game marked the first time the Blackhawks and Ducks have been pitted against each other in a playoff series.
Chicago had ten days off in between games while Anaheim had a week to rest before Game 1, which created a tremendous pace to the hockey game early. Patrick Kane had an opportunity to give the Blackhawks a lead but was denied by a sprawling Frederik Andersen with his goal stick five minutes in. The 25-year-old goaltender would steal the show in the first period of Game 1 as he made 16 saves in the opening frame. Although he failed to beat Chicago in the regular season (0-2), Andersen’s ability to read the oncoming rush attack paid dividends as the Blackhawks hoped to draw first blood in the series.
Despite Chicago’s best efforts, it would be Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm who would give the home team the lead 8:48 into the game. Beleskey crossed the Hawks blue line and shifted the puck towards fellow teammate Jakob Silfverberg who protected the puck to the outside and passed it back to Lindholm towards the top of the zone who snapped one past the blocker of Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford for his second goal of the postseason. It was only Anaheim’s third shot of the game. Coming into Game 1, the Ducks were 4-0 when scoring first in this year’s playoffs.
As the pressure increased from Chicago attempting to tie the game up at one shortly after Lindholm’s tally, Andersen again stood tall throughout the first twenty minutes of play. The shots were 16-7 in favor of Chicago at the end of one with Anaheim holding a 1-0 lead in the Honda Center.
The second period would again be a feeling-out process for both of these teams. Space was limited, shooting lanes were crowded, and odd-man chances were rare. 4:17 into the second, Anaheim added another goal. This time, it was Kyle Palmieri who would beat Crawford glove-side on a wicked slapshot. Blackhawks blueliner David Rundblad, in his first ever playoff game, failed to clear the zone twice during the play.
Palmieri then forced one below the goal line to Nate Thompson who then threw one towards Crawford. It directed off the goaltender’s stick and was inadvertently sent to a streaking Palmieri who blasted a shot underneath the crossbar. The Ducks had a chance to extend their lead to three on a Niklas Hjalmarsson tripping infraction twelve minutes into the second, but failed to score.
Although they were down by two goals, the Blackhawks confidence did not diminish. This was the first time they had not been leading a game in 23 days as they never trailed against the Minnesota Wild in their second-round series. Quenneville mixed up his forward lines, placing Bryan Bickell on the top line in hopes of creating opportunities for Hossa and Toews.
The possession numbers were in favor of Chicago as they funneled pucks toward Andersen, but all their offensive efforts (including a Saad shorthanded chance) were denied by the Danish goalie. That was until Brad Richards fired a puck through the right arm of Andersen, cutting the Ducks lead in half with 39.6 seconds remaining. Ducks d-man Francois Beauchemin hoped to advance the puck out of his own zone but Richards knocked it away with his stick and had a mini-breakaway from the middle of the right circle.
It was the 35-year-old forward’s 2nd goal of the postseason, and one that sent the Blackhawks into the locker room with even more momentum. The visitors were leading 25-15 in shots after two periods, but Anaheim remained in the lead by a score of 2-1. Kane, who had five goals in four games against Minnesota, registered one shot in the first two periods.
Chicago had a pair of opportunities in the final period of regulation to even up the game at two on the powerplay. Simon Despres entered the box for holding 3:04 in while Ryan Kesler took his spot in the sin bin for hooking at 6:32. Nothing doing on the Blackhawks man-advantages, although they had a 20.0% success rate on the PP coming into this game.
The Hawks were kept to the outside throughout the early stages of period three, while Anaheim was settling into their groove and getting pucks deep past the defense. Andrew Cogliano’s simple shot towards Crawford ended up the goal line, but failed to cross it completely. For the most part, the Ducks were keeping control of the game in Chicago’s end, which wasn’t the case in the first forty minutes.
With eight minutes left in the game, Ducks defenseman Sami Vatanen sent a stretch pass from his own zone and Duncan Keith attempted to jump the route and take away the pass, but failed to do so. Instead, it ended up on Cogliano’s stick as he rushed in towards the right of Crawford and shot it off his right pad over a diving Brent Seabrook. Palmieri couldn’t get a stick on it as Kane back-checked him properly, but Thompson was there to bang home the rebound above Crawford’s blocker to increase Anaheim’s lead to two (his second goal of the playoffs).
Andersen would survive a couple of late pushes from Chicago, but Anaheim would hold on after Silfverberg’s empty-net goal made it a 4-1 game. The Ducks remain unbeaten at home this postseason, improving their record to 6-0 at the Honda Center.
Andersen made 32 saves on 33 shots for his ninth victory of the postseason. The Ducks now have a 1-0 series lead in the Western Conference Final and it is the first time the Blackhawks have trailed in a playoff series in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Anaheim has won 9 out of its first 10 postseason games for the first time in club history.
Frederik Andersen told reporters after the game that him and his fellow teammates believe that they’ll have no problems defeating a team like Chicago if they continue to play the right way.
“Everyone in this room knows we can beat this team.”
Game 2 will take place Tuesday in Anaheim.
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