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Ducks hang on to beat Stars in Game 1

Apr 17, 2014 - 6:09 AM Anaheim, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Ryan Getzlaf and Matt Beleskey each supplied a goal and an assist, as the Anaheim Ducks scored the game's first four goals before surviving a scare down the stretch to claim a 4-3 win over the Dallas Stars in Game 1 of a Western Conference quarterfinal clash at Honda Center.

Kyle Palmieri and Mathieu Perreault tallied a goal apiece during the early Anaheim flurry, which staked the West's top seed to a 4-0 lead just over nine minutes into the middle stanza.

Jamie Benn and Colton Sceviour scored 1:33 apart later in the second to slice the Stars' deficit in half before Tyler Seguin's tip-in with 6:07 left in the third brought the visitors within one.

However, rookie Frederik Andersen, who got the start in net for Anaheim over Jonas Hiller, turned away all comers over the final six minutes to help the Ducks grab a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Andersen finished with 32 saves in his postseason debut for the Ducks, who used a 54-20-8 regular-season record -- the best in franchise history -- to secure the top spot in the West.

"We let up a little bit in the third after our fourth goal, so this is a good lesson for us," said Andersen, who became the first rookie goaltender in club history to win his playoff debut. "Hopefully we can prevent that from happening again."

It wasn't all good news for Anaheim however, as Beleskey and Getzlaf both left the game with injuries. Beleskey sustained a lower-body injury, while Getzlaf took a slap shot to the face in the closing minutes of the contest.

"I just know he's getting stitched up right now. That's the only thing I've heard," Anaheim head coach Bruce Boudreau said of Getzlaf. "I think he's going to be OK, but he'll probably have a nasty cut on the side of his mouth."

Sceviour also added an assist in the setback, while Kari Lehtonen allowed four goals on 35 shots for the Stars, who claimed the West's second wild card spot to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

"We had a tough start," Benn admitted. "They came out hot in their building. They are really good in this rink. I thought we battled back pretty good there but it just wasn't enough."

Game 2 of this series is set for Friday in Anaheim.

Beleskey's power-play goal 9:04 into the second period pushed Anaheim's lead to 4-0, but the Stars scored twice in under two minutes later in the frame, starting with Benn's power-play goal at 16:36.

After Benn found the back of the net from the low right circle with the Stars on a 5-on-3, Sceviour snuck a shot under Andersen's pads from the right circle just 1:33 later to bring the visitors within 4-2.

Seguin tipped-in a Trevor Daley right point shot with just over six minutes to play, but the Stars were unable to find the equalizer down the stretch.

Early on, Palmieri put the Ducks in front under two minutes in when he converted a 2-on-1 rush with a backhander off a slick saucer pass from Nick Bonino to make it 1-0 at 1:53.

The Ducks doubled their lead later in the frame, as an odd-man rush saw Getzlaf put home a rebound off a Beleskey blast for a 2-0 lead at 12:49.

Perreault capped Anaheim's three-goal first frame with a power-play marker in the final minute, as he buried a one-timer from the low right side to make it 3-0 with 29.7 seconds showing on the clock.

Game Notes

At 24 years and 196 days, Andersen is the youngest goaltender in Ducks history to appear in a postseason game ... This marks the third all-time playoff meeting between these clubs and first since the Stars bested the Ducks in six games during the 2008 Western Conference quarterfinals ... Anaheim's Teemu Selanne notched an assist for his 83rd career postseason point (42 goals, 41 assists) ... Benn and Sceviour both scored in their playoff debuts.