ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and an assist, Frederik Andersen made 32 saves to win his NHL playoff debut, and the Anaheim Ducks opened the postseason with a 4-3 victory over the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night.
Getzlaf, Kyle Palmieri and Mathieu Perreault scored in a dominant first period for the top-seeded Ducks, who began their playoff run on a dead sprint. Anaheim led 4-0 midway through the second period before Dallas got rolling in its first playoff game since 2008.
Captain Jamie Benn and Colton Sceviour had power-play goals, and Tyler Seguin scored with 6:07 left to trim the Ducks’ lead to one. Anaheim hung on with a handful of big saves from Andersen, a 24-year-old Danish rookie.
Game 2 is Friday.
Matt Beleskey had a goal and an assist before incurring a lower-body injury in the third period, leaving a hole on the Ducks’ top line with Getzlaf and Corey Perry. Getzlaf then got hit in the face with the puck with 16 seconds left, sending him to the dressing room early.
PENGUINS 4, BLUE JACKETS 3
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Brandon Sutter scored on a wrist shot from the left circle 8:18 into the third period, helping the Penguins rally for the win in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.
Beau Bennett and Matt Niskanen scored power-play goals 45 seconds apart in the second period, erasing Pittsburgh’s two-goal deficit. Jussi Jokinen also scored for the Penguins and Marc-Andre Fleury overcame some shaky defense to stop 31 shots.
Game 2 is Saturday night.
Jack Johnson, Mark Letestu and Derek Mackenzie scored for the Blue Jackets, who fell to 0-5 all-time in postseason games. Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 28 saves but was handcuffed by Sutter’s knuckling wrister at the end of a 2-on-1 break.
CANADIENS 5, LIGHTNING 4, OT
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Dale Weise scored 18:08 into overtime to give the Canadiens the win at Tampa Bay in the opener of their first-round playoff series.
Daniel Briere passed from behind the net to Weise in the right circle, and he beat Anders Lindback for the winning score. Lindback stopped 39 of 44 shots while filling in for injured goaltender Ben Bishop.
Carey Price stopped 21 shots for the Canadiens, who blew a pair of third-period leads. Brian Gionta had a short-handed goal and Tomas Plekanec, Lars Eller and Thomas Vanek also scored for Montreal.
Steven Stamkos scored twice for Tampa Bay, including the goal that forced overtime.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Friday night.
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