Ducks vs Blackhawks

For additional insight on the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference Final, NHL.com has enlisted the help of Claude Noel to break down the action. Noel will be checking in throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Noel was coach for the Winnipeg Jets from 2011-14 and interim coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2009-10. He also coached many years in the minor leagues, including the American Hockey League. In addition, Noel, a former forward, had 138 points in 353 regular-season games in the AHL and played seven games in the NHL with Washington Capitals in 1979-80.

The Chicago Blackhawks will need to get secondary scoring across the board if they are to have any chance of defeating the Anaheim Ducks in the Western Conference Final.

That's what Claude Noel strongly believes needs to happen in Game 2 at Honda Center on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports).

ANAHEIM -- The goal behind Anaheim Ducks goaltender Frederik Andersen must have looked as big as a soccer net to Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane.

Kane, who has seven goals in 10 Stanley Cup Playoff games, curled around the scrambling Andersen and had a good portion of the net at his command.

Kane flicked his wrists confidently, expecting to see the red light explode into color before his eyes. Instead, Andersen lunged, reaching desperately with his stick and was rewarded with the crack of frozen rubber hitting shellacked lumber. All Kane saw was orange while the Anaheim fans behind the goal rose to cheer a remarkable save.

"Yeah, he waited me out a little bit," Andersen said, explaining his flailing along the ice well above the blue paint of his crease in the sixth minute of the Ducks' 4-1 win in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final on Sunday at Honda Center. "I knew I had to try to throw my stick over and take [away] as much of the net as I could. Luckily he hit the stick."

The puck ricocheted off the paddle of his stick and over the cross bar and into the netting to force a faceoff and allow the Ducks to exhale a bit.

ANAHEIM -- When trailing by a goal early in the third period, back-to-back power plays qualifies as a pretty excellent opportunity to find a game-tying goal.

The Chicago Blackhawks were in that position Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center during Game 1 of the Western Conference Final. Down 2-1, the Blackhawks earned back-to-back power plays early in the third period.

They did not convert on either, and it proved to be a big chance missed in a 4-1 defeat. Game 2 of the best-of-7 series will be played Tuesday at Honda Center (9 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports).

ANAHEIM -- It's usually forwards Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry who are surrounded by huge postgame media scrums, but the scene was quite different in the Anaheim Ducks' dressing room after a 4-1 win against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final at Honda Center on Sunday.

In one corner, there was forward Kyle Palmieri, who hadn't scored in more than six weeks. Across from him was forward Nate Thompson, who missed the first round because of an injury. In between them was Andrew Cogliano, the iron-man forward with a tenacious forecheck.

They comprise Anaheim's third line, which combined for two goals and two assists Sunday. It was a rare occurrence in the Stanley Cup Playoffs when Anaheim won without major contributions from Getzlaf or Perry, who appeared on the score sheet in the form of Getzlaf's empty-net assist at 18:42 of the third period.

ANAHEIM – For the better part of a week, observers have been trying to divine how the Chicago Blackhawks will survive the long layoff before the start of the Western Conference Final.

As the Blackhawks performed some line rushes and took part in a short scrimmage, the hunt was on for signs of rust or ennui in their game. But Chicago coach Joel Quenneville was not worried, even though his team's last game was on May 7, a 4-3 victory against the Minnesota Wild that finished off a second-round sweep.

“We had two really good practices prior to flying out here [Friday],” Quenneville said. “I liked our practice [Saturday]. But we want to play hockey, play real games. I think our team gets measured way better on how we play than practice.”

ANAHEIM -- The 2015 Western Conference Final might be the first playoff matchup between the Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks, but for a couple of the key combatants it will be just like old times.

Jonathan Toews and Ryan Kesler were a featured matchup when the Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks met for three consecutive years in the Stanley Cup Playoffs from 2009-11, and they’ve seen plenty of each other in Canada-United States games at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and 2014 Sochi Olympics.

"Toews is a good player. We always seem to match up against each other," Kesler said Saturday. "So when you play him in the playoffs and you play against the same guy for six-seven games in a row, obviously there’s going to be rivalry there. If I’m playing against him this series, I’m sure we won’t hug each other after draws, let’s just say that."

CHICAGO -- "Captain Serious" is a nickname that's stuck with Jonathan Toews since the age of 20, but it might not fit the Chicago Blackhawks captain anymore.

Toews, 27, not only detests the moniker, which belies his sense of humor, but he's outgrown it. After twice accepting the Stanley Cup from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman before the age of 30, Toews has become more than just a serious face and elite two-way center.

"Captain Heartbeat" might be a better description now, as he prepares to lead the Blackhawks into the Western Conference Final against the Anaheim Ducks.

"He has a great pulse for every piece of the team," said retired forward Jamal Mayers, a television analyst who won the 2013 Stanley Cup with Chicago and studied Toews from a couple locker stalls away. "It doesn't matter if you're the 14th forward or the No. 1 defenseman or the starting goalie. He knows when to pick somebody up, when to kick 'em in the butt, and it's that pulse that amazes me at such a young age. Usually you don't get that until you're in your 30s."

Goaltending plays an integral part in the Stanley Cup Playoffs so NHL.com broke down the Western Conference Final battle between Frederik Andersen of the Anaheim Ducks and Corey Crawford of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Much like many goaltending coaches do before a playoff series, NHL.com correspondent Kevin Woodley, the managing editor of InGoal Magazine, charted every goal scored with the help of a program from Double Blue Sport Analytics. Regular-season goals were recorded in their original Save Review System, and playoff goals, including how they were scored, were tracked in the soon-to-launch SRS 2.0. The graphics showing where goals went in and shots were taken from on the ice are nice, but the real value is analyzing the plays that led to them and whether they reveal strengths, weaknesses and tendencies that can be targeted.

ANAHEIM -- Matt Beleskey remembers sitting at home with a shoulder injury during the hours and days leading up to the NHL Trade Deadline in March.

There was some speculation the Anaheim Ducks would trade Beleskey, who was having his best season in the NHL and looked attractive to teams in need of a versatile left wing.

"[I was] extremely nervous," Beleskey said. "Watching and having the chance of being traded was something I definitely didn’t want. Once that was over, it was a huge weight off my shoulders."

Beleskey wasn't traded, and he’s repaid the Ducks handsomely by following up his career-best 22-goal regular season with a fruitful Stanley Cup Playoffs. He enters Game 1 of the Western Conference Final against the Chicago Blackhawks at Honda Center on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA Sports) on a Ducks record five-game playoff scoring streak. He is the first NHL player to score in each of the first five games of a series since Mikael Samuelson of the Vancouver Canucks in 2010 against the Los Angeles Kings.

CHICAGO -- Marian Hossa has seen enough goalie meltdowns in his career to truly appreciate what Corey Crawford routinely does for the Chicago Blackhawks.

Crawford's resilience has become one of his biggest assets, right up there with tracking pucks, timing shots and body position. He's developed it incrementally the past five seasons, and it's now to a point matched by few goalies.

"He's one of those goalies who's [very] strong mentally," Hossa said. "One or two weaker games, or whatever you want to call it, it seems like he just forgets and starts looking for a new challenge. He can just shake off whatever, and it's amazing to see because not many goalies can do that."

Crawford's start to the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs was so turbulent that it probably would've crushed the confidence of many goalies.