Blackhawks Take Opener – NHL Roundup For May 16th

CHICAGO (AP) — Johnny Oduya (oh-DOO'-yuh) and Marcus Kruger scored in the third period, Corey Crawford made 20 saves and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 in the opener of their second-round playoff series.

Chicago dominated the Western Conference semifinal opener, outshooting the Red Wings by a 42-21 margin. Marian Hossa (HOH'-sah) scored the opening goal, and Patrick Sharp had an empty-netter and two assists to give him nine points in the playoffs.

Jimmy Howard finished with 38 stops in a terrific performance, but Detroit still lost to rival Chicago for the eighth straight time dating to last season.

The series resumes on Saturday afternoon at the United Center.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kings center Jarret Stoll is likely to miss tonight's Game 2 of Los Angeles' second-round playoff series against the Sharks after a hard hit from San Jose's Raffi Torres in the opener.

Los Angeles coach Darryl Sutter has implied that Stoll could be out for a significant length of time after getting hit by Torres, who has a history of dangerous play. Sutter says he thought the hit was "careless."

Torres is expected to have an in-person disciplinary hearing with NHL officials over the hit. Game 2 is Thursday night.

In other hockey news:

— The NHL will stage two games in Yankee Stadium next season. The New York Rangers will play the New Jersey Devils on Jan. 26 and the Rangers will then meet the Islanders three days later. The NHL is increasing its popular outdoor games, which in the past had been limited to on or around New Year's Day. There likely will be six next season.