On his second shift of the game, Crosby took the puck at his own blue line and skated through the neutral zone along the left-side boards. At the attacking blue line, he faked out defenseman Erik Karlsson, who was caught a bit on his heels, and got free in the circle to snap off a low shot that beat Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson to the far side to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead at 3:16 of the first.

Nine times to be exact. They've lost all nine series and never forced a Game 7.

But this time, the Sharks are determined to make history instead of repeat it.

"I know we can come back," defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic said Friday. "We just have to take care of home ice. They took care of home ice in L.A. We'll do the same, and we'll be back at zero-zero again. We got to come out strong in Game 3. The guys in here are very excited about tomorrow night. We're ready to respond, and we will."

Crawford, Chicago's starting goalie, was asked about Detroit not having much stamina in the final two periods of a 4-1 loss Wednesday at United Center, the opening game of the Western Conference Semifinals. The Red Wings, who made six cross-country flights during a seven-game quarterfinal against the Anaheim Ducks, said they expect to be faster and better in Game 2 here Saturday (1 p.m., NBC, CBC).

"I don't really care, to be honest," Crawford snapped. "It's more about us. Whatever their travel is or whatever their schedule is doesn't really affect us. We expect them to play hard and to bring their best game. That's what we're preparing for."

CHICAGO -- Spend a couple of days with Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville and it quickly becomes evident he has a few favorite phrases when discussing his players.

One of them is "predictability in his game." It's another way of saying a player offers consistent effort and is reliable. It also perfectly describes the play of Blackhawks center Dave Bolland.

Quenneville found out Friday that Bolland might not always be so predictable off the ice. Asked about his coach, who was named a finalist for the Jack Adams Award as the League's best, Bolland called Quenneville "a big teddy bear."

"Really? A teddy bear?" Quenneville said after a hearty chuckle. "I hadn't been called that one before. That's surprising. Pretty tough to comment on that one."

Bolland returned to the Blackhawks lineup in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals after missing the final three games of the regular season and the opening round against the Minnesota Wild with a groin injury. He skated on the third line and logged 11:36 of ice time, easily the least he's played in 50 career Stanley Cup Playoff games for Chicago.

Still, the guy who has earned a reputation as a "playoff player" was noticeable in his brief appearances.

BOSTON -- The New York Rangers power play has regressed from being ineffective to creating momentum for the other team. If it continues this way, the light at the end of the tunnel is bound to go dark after the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

"We said early on that special teams wins you games, wins you series," Rangers forward Rick Nash said, "and we're not getting it done right now."

They weren't even close in Game 1 against the Boston Bruins on Thursday night, when they went 0-for-3 in a 3-2 overtime loss to fall to 2-for-31 on the power play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Rangers struggled to even gain the zone against the Bruins' aggressive penalty kill. Their breakouts weren't clean and they turned over the puck.

BOSTON -- It's a rare sight to see the Boston Bruins' power play as a weapon that wears out the opposition and tilts a game in Boston's favor.

If you didn't witness it, and didn't hear everyone talking about it, you might not believe how important the man-advantage was to the Bruins' 3-2, Game 1 win against the New York Rangers Thursday in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

In addition to tying the game on a Torey Krug power-play goal, the Bruins kept the Rangers pinned in their zone for nearly the entire four minutes of a minor to New York defenseman John Moore late in regulation then a Derek Dorsett minor penalty in overtime.

"You've just got to keep the momentum on your side. I think our two units [Thursday] were creating some pretty good scoring chances," Bruins center David Krejci said. "Even though we didn't score, other than Krug's goal, we kept the momentum on our side. And right after the power play, the next line who was out there, they were playing well, they kept the momentum on our side. So it's very important, too, if you don't score on the power play, to create some chances and keep the momentum on your side."

It didn't take Glen Gulutzan very long to find a role behind the bench following his release as coach of the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.

Less than 24 hours after new Stars general manager Jill Nill fired Gulutzan, the 41-year-old was preparing to serve as a guest coach for the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League at this weekend's MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament in his old stomping grounds of Saskatchewan.

The day Bruce Boudreau was named a finalist for the Jack Adams Award, the Anaheim Ducks coach admitted the timing of the NHL's announcement wasn't great.

Boudreau was still stinging from Monday's 3-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals.

"It's hard coming on the heels of probably your most depressing moment in a year, when you're still decompressing from losing in the playoffs," Boudreau said during a conference call Friday. "But it certainly is a great honor."

You don't need an Ivy League education to realize that Mark Arcobello has been a huge reason for the Oklahoma City Barons' return to the American Hockey League's Western Conference Finals this spring.

The Yale University alum with the degree in political science has moved on to an entirely different post-graduate curriculum: Intro to Professional Hockey. The Edmonton Oilers prospect's professors include the Barons coaching staff, led by head coach Todd Nelson.

"His hockey IQ is a huge strength," Nelson said of the third-year pro from Milford, Conn., who has had a breakout campaign in 2012-13. "He's a smart player and he's got skill. He's not a very big guy, but he's very competitive. He's not intimidated by any means.

"He finishes all his checks and plays a hard game. His skill level and hockey IQ -- his vision, his hockey sense, his creativity -- is above others in this league."

Bruce Boudreau of the Anaheim Ducks, Paul MacLean of the Ottawa Senators and Joel Quenneville of the Chicago Blackhawks were named Friday as the finalists for the Jack Adams Award, presented "to the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success."

Boudreau and Quenneville have won the award, but with a different team. Quenneville was recognized for leading the St. Louis Blues to the Presidents' Trophy in 1999-2000, and Boudreau received the award in 2007-08 for coaching the Washington Capitals. If either wins, he would become the fifth coach to capture the award with two teams. Pat Burns is the only coach to win the Adams three times; he did it once each with the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins.