by Miller that began after Dudas RBI single in the first. Byrd h

Chicago and Boston open their respective Conference Finals with victories. Scott Cullen has stats and notes from Saturdays nights NHL action. BLACKHAWKS OPEN WITH WIN OVER KINGSThe Chicago Blackhawks opened Game One of the Western Conference Final by outshooting the Los Angeles Kings 17-2 in the first period, only to trail 1-0, when a puck misplayed by G Corey Crawford and C Dave Bolland ended up in the Chicago net, courtesy of Justin Williams. The Blackhawks got goals, less than five minutes apart in the second period, from Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa. Sharp, who scored six goals in 28 regular season games, leads all playoff goal-scorers with eight in 13 postseason games. Blackhawks LW Bryan Bickell and D Duncan Keith led the Blackhawks with five shots on goal and Bickell tied D Brent Seabrook for a team-leading six hits. On top of that, Bickell also had terrific possession numbers. Drew Doughty, Robyn Regehr, Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown were the Kings on the wrong end of the possession game. Brown, the Kings captain, recorded a game-high eight hits, including a crushing hit on Jonathan Toews in the final minute, but had no shots on goal. Jeff Carter, Mike Richards and Kopitar combined for three shots on goal. Of note, with the Kings pressing for the tying goal under a couple of minutes remaining, Chicagos Dave Bolland flattened the Kings Mike Richards behind the Chicago net. It was a heavy hit and, whether it results in supplemental discipline or not, Richards was moving pretty slowly after he got up. It bears watching whether Richards or Toews have any lasting effects from those big hits. The Kings have been bailed out by Jonathan Quick in the playoffs thus far and he did his part Saturday, stopping 34 of 36 shots, but once again Los Angeles was on the wrong end territorially. It was the fifth time in 14 playoff games overall (fourth time in seven road games) that the Kings have been outshot by double digits. During the regular season, the Kings outshot their opposition by 4.8 shots per game. In the playoffs, they have a shot deficit of 5.3 shots per game. Thats leaving Quick very little margin for error. By comparison, Chicago outshot opponents by 4.9 shots per game during the regular seson and theyve upped the margin in the playoffs, outshooting opponents by 6.4 shots per game. So long as Corey Crawford continues to play well (1.39 GAA, .950 SV% in last four games), the Blackhawks are on top of their game. KREJCI, RASK LEAD BRUINSThe Boston Bruins withstood early pressure from the home team Pittsburgh Penguins, then were led by a pair of goals from David Krejci and a 29-save shutout from Tuukka Rask on their way to 3-0 Game One road win. David Krejci, who leads the playoffs with 19 points, recorded a game-high seven shots on goal. Its not easy for a player to raise their scoring average in the playoffs, what with better opposition and tighter checking, but Krecji has 0.73 points per game during the regular season in his NHL career. After Saturday, Krejci has 0.92 points per game (66 PTS, 72 GP) in his playoff career. It wasnt only Krejci leading the offence. RW Nathan Horton had a goal and two assists and a plus-3 rating, giving him 15 points and a playoff-leading plus-17 in 13 games. He had 22 points and was plus-1 in 43 games during the regular season. Remarkably, Rasks playoff save percentage, after the shutout, is .933, which still ranks fourth among the starting goaltender left in the playoffs. Boston won two-thirds of the faceoffs, with Sidney Crosby (6-for-17; 35.3%) taking the brunt of it for Pittsburgh. Picking at nits for the Bruins, RW Tyler Seguin had no shots on goal in nearly 14 minutes of playing time. After putting up points in each of the first eight playoff games this year, Penguins C Evgeni Malkin has been held off the scoresheet in three of the last four games. He led the Penguins with five shots on goal but, along with linemates James Neal and Jarome Iginla, struggled possession-wise, clearly getting the worst of the head-to-head matchup against the line of Kejci, Horton and Milan Lucic. If the Bruins can win those head-to-head matchups, with Rask outplaying Tomas Vokoun in goal, theyre going to be difficult to beat. Of course, its really difficult to consistently win head-to-head matchups against Pittsburghs top lines, but the Bruins achieved that feat in their Game One win. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook.Custom Sean Elliott Jersey . Terms of the deal were not immediately available. The 26-year-old finished last season with Clevelands Triple-A affiliate in Columbus after signing with the Indians in August. Wholesale Custom Spurs Shirts . LOUIS -- Theres no telling how these wacky World Series games will end. http://www.customspursjersey.com/ . John Lucas, signed as a mentor for rookie Trey Burke, showed he can score if required, scoring 12 points of his 16 points in the second quarter as Utah built an 18-point lead. Custom Spurs Jerseys . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Authentic Custom Spurs Jersey . Malkin got tangled up with Detroits Luke Glendening early in the third period and his left skate took the brunt of collision with the boards behind Pittsburghs net.NEW YORK -- Dillon Gee is grateful for the recent spate of bad weather -- in more ways than one. Gee revealed he has tendinitis in his right elbow and was able to make his start Wednesday night because two rainouts last week in Washington pushed his turn back a couple of days. What a start it was, though. Gee pitched effectively into the seventh inning, Lucas Duda hit one of three Mets homers and New York scored the most runs allowed by Shelby Miller in his young career for a 5-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. "Luckily, the rainouts came at a great time for me personally," Gee said. The right-hander said hes had tendinitis since spring training and his elbow was checked out by a doctor. Now, its just a matter of managing the pain. David Wright and Marlon Byrd also connected for the Mets, who snapped a three-game skid and improved to 2-6 in June. Duda drove in two runs, including a first-inning single that scored Daniel Murphy from first base. With prized pitching prospect Zack Wheeler nearing his promotion to the big leagues, Gee (5-6) has done everything possible to protect his spot in the rotation. He has yielded only three earned runs over 21 innings in his past three starts -- all wins. The run of poor weather -- the Mets have been postponed six times this season -- also might help keep Gee in the rotation for at least another start or two. More rain is forecast for Thursday. "Were looking right now at a possibility of going with the sixth starter for a few days," manager Terry Collins said. New York needs an extra starter for a makeup doubleheader Tuesday in Atlanta. A day after being named NL captain for the Home Run Derby during All-Star week at Citi Field, Wright hit a long ball into the centre-field seats just to the right of the Big Apple in the sixth. "I simply didnt execute," Miller said. "A curveball right down the middle to Duda, a fastball right down the middle to Wright. I made mistakes and they capitalized on them." The NL Central-leading Cardinals entered with the leagues best batting average at .277 but could get little going against Gee, who is on a three-game run thats as good as Miller (7-4) has been all season. Gee scattered six hits and struck out seven in 6 2-3 innings. He gave up a one-out homer in the sixth to Allen Craig -- his second in two days against the Mets. The recent success could not have come at a better time for the crafty Gee, because the Mets plan to call up Wheeler to start one game of Tuesdays doubleheader. While Collins said everyyone would get their turn through the rotation, a pitcher will likely be demoted to the bullpen after that to make room for Wheeler -- and it most likely will be Gee or Jeremy Hefner.dddddddddddd "Youve got to weigh a lot of things, Collins said. "Youve got to weigh health. Youre going to weigh who could pitch out of the bullpen, whos got credentials out of the bullpen. It could be we cant afford to put somebody in the bullpen, were going to need a starter at another time." Miller, on the other hand, has solidified a spot in the Cardinals rotation with surprising consistency for a 22-year-old. The four runs the Mets scored were the most hes allowed in 19 big league appearances -- 13 starts this season. He had allowed three runs three times this year and his ERA is 2.21, up from 1.91 going into the game. "There are time that its not just selection (of pitches), but execution," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. "Sometimes young pitchers with early success in their careers fall into this. It is a tough league, good hitters -- they make adjustments. They call this a game of adjustments for a reason." Miller struck out 10 without a walk in six innings. The Mets did not score against him over 5 2-3 innings on May 15 but were able to go ahead in the first when Wright lined a two-out double to right-centre and scored on Murphys single. Running on a pitch to Duda, Murphy, not known for his speed, scored from first when right fielder Carlos Beltran played the line drive down the first base line lackadaisically and made his throw to second base. "What a great read. He never slowed down," Byrd said. "Thats what we need -- aggressive." With one out in the fourth, Duda homered into the Cardinals bullpen in right-centre to end a run of eight straight outs by Miller that began after Dudas RBI single in the first. Byrd homered off Seth Maness in the seventh. David Freese went 0 for 4 for the Cardinals, ending his career-best hitting streak at 20 games -- longest in the majors this season. NOTES: Cardinals RHP Jake Westbrook (elbow inflammation) is scheduled to come off the disabled list and start Friday night in Miami, but Matheny still has not said who will be sent to the minors to make room. ... Thursdays matinee features a marquee pitching matchup between St. Louis RHP Adam Wainwright (9-3) and Mets RHP Matt Harvey (5-0), but heavy rain is in the forecast. ... Mets SS Omar Quintanilla struck out four times. ... Yadier Molina had three hits for St. Louis. ' ' '