Blues defeat Blackhawks, 1-0, in overtime of series opener

David Backes scored at 9 minutes 4 seconds of overtime on a shot that deflected off a Chicago Blackhawks defenseman, and the St. Louis Blues took a Western Conference series opener, 1-0, over the defending Stanley Cup champions on Wednesday night at St. Louis.

Backes’ shot got past Corey Crawford after bouncing off Trevor Van Riemsdyk’s skate. Defensemen Jay Bouwmeester and Alex Pietrangelo assisted on the winner.

Brian Elliott earned his first career playoff shutout. Elliott, who led the NHL with a .930 save percentage, made 35 saves to thwart a lineup led by scoring champion Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. He made just his second playoff start in three seasons off an impressive finish, going 11-1 in his final 14 starts.

at Pittsburgh 5, New York Rangers 2: Patric Hornqvist had his first playoff hat trick and the Penguins pulled away in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

Hornqvist added an assist, Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists and backup goaltender Jeff Zatkoff did just fine in his first postseason start, finishing with 35 saves. Tom Kuhnhackl also scored for Pittsburgh, which took advantage when New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist left with a facial injury after the first period.

at Tampa Bay 3, Detroit 2: The Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov scored twice and Alex Killorn snapped a third-period tie with his 11th career playoff goal.

Ben Bishop had 34 saves for the defending Eastern Conference champions, who got the winner from Killorn.