Ducks take big lead, hang on to top Stars 4-3

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Trying to erase some of their recent playoff shortcomings, the Anaheim Ducks were simply electric Wednesday night – until they weren't.

The Western Conference's top seed, which has had little postseason success since the 2007 Stanley Cup run, jumped out to a 4-0 lead midway through the second period. But the Dallas Stars began chipping away and Anaheim found itself in a dog fight that ended in a too-close-for-comfort 4-3 win.

"A little adversity never hurt nobody," Ducks right wing Corey Perry joked. "We did a lot of good things."

Chief among those was rookie goaltender Frederik Andersen making 32 saves as the franchise's youngest netminder to start a postseason game.

"There were no nerves for me," he said. "I wasn't nervous at all. You just prepare as usual."

The Stars were aggressive from the opening faceoff, challenging Andersen early. But Anaheim was stellar in transition, picking up first-period goals from Kyle Palmieri, Ryan Getzlaf and Mathieu Perreault and a second-period goal by Matt Beleskey.

"We came out playing really well, really strong," said Ducks winger Patrick Maroon, who set up Perreault. "We played really hard."

A pair of penalties to the Ducks helped turn the tide for Dallas. Playing with a two-man advantage, Stars captain Jamie Benn buried a pass from center Colton Sceviour. Seconds after the Ducks' second penalty expired, Sceviour fired a puck into a scrum of Ducks' defenders and past Andersen to cut Anaheim's lead to two heading into the third period.

"I thought halfway through the game, before we took those two penalties, that we were in control of the situation," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. "When a team scores a goal or two late, and they get momentum and they believe they can win, and the other team is just trying to hang on, you end up with a score like it was tonight."

Maroon had a chance to give the Ducks an insurance goal midway through the third period when Kari Lehtonen was out of position, but Dallas defenseman Alex Goligoski dived across the open net to stop his shot.

"It was tough (missing that), especially when (Dallas) scored that third goal," Maroon said. "I can't miss those."

The Stars' third goal came when center Tyler Seguin ripped a shot past Andersen at 13:53.

The way we finished is how we want to play the full game," Seguin said. "We didn't capitalize on some opportunities (early), even though they did. I definitely liked our no-quit attitude."

Anaheim hung on to take Game 1, and afterward, a ton of praise was directed toward Andersen.

"I thought (Andersen) was great," Boudreau said. "My confidence in him hasn't waned one iota. That's how he has played for us all year. I didn't think of (his age) when I made the decision (to start him). I thought he was playing the best down the stretch and he deserved the chance. Nerves didn't bother him. It was an easy choice for me."

Palmieri wasn't focused on the Stars' rally as much as on the grit that the Ducks showed in the face of adversity.

"You never know what would have happened if we had gotten a fifth goal, but when a team comes back like that, and you can hold onto the lead, that's going to be huge for us going down the stretch," he said. "You know it's never going to be a runaway (game) in the playoffs. No team is going to pack it in. We were ready for their push. At the end of the day, we came out with the win and that's what we wanted."

Still, Boudreau knows there's work to do.

"We have to play a lot better if we want to win anything," Boudreau said. "I thought we gave the puck away way too many times tonight, especially early. It's something we'll go back to the drawing board over. We got that first game over with and we know what we're dealing with and we will be better next game."

NOTES: Getzlaf left the game after getting hit in the face with a puck. Boudreau said Getzlaf was getting stitched up and would "likely have a nasty cut" but didn't believe the injury was more serious than that. … Belesky recorded the first multi-point playoff game of his career but left the game near the 12-minute mark of the third period with a lower body injury and didn't return.