Bruins 4 Canadiens 2
At Boston, Phil Kessel had two goals and an assist, and Zdeno Chara scored with 8:45 left to break a third-period tie for Boston. Tim Thomas stopped 26 shots for the Bruins, who are the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference but haven’t gotten out of the first round in a decade.
Carey Price made 35 saves for the Canadiens.
Kessel and David Krejci gave Boston a 2-0 lead before Montreal tied it on goals by Chris Higgins and Alex Kovalev. Kessel made it 4-2 with 13.4 seconds left on an empty-netter on a pass from Milan Lucic, a goal that prompted a round of fisticuffs that continued after the final whistle.
Red Wings 4 Blue Jackets 1
At Detroit, Jonathan Ericsson was credited with the go-ahead goal for Detroit with 6:39 left in the second period on a shot that Manny Malhotra redirected into his own net trying to stop the puck with his glove
Jiri Hudler, Nicklas Kronwall and Johan Franzen also scored for Stanley Cup champion Detroit, and Chris Osgood made 20 saves, allowing only R.J. Umberger’s goal.
Game 2 is Saturday night in Detroit.
Ducks 2 Sharks 0
At San Jose, Calif., Jonas Hiller made 35 saves in a sparkling playoff debut for eighth-seeded Anaheim, and Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and an assist in the third period.
Getzlaf set up captain Scott Niedermayer’s tiebreaking power-play goal early in the third before roaring out of the penalty box to score his own goal with 2:25 to play.
With Hiller’s flawless play, the playoff-tested Ducks put an early playoff scare into San Jose, the Presidents’ Trophy winner with 117 points.
Evgeni Nabokov made 15 saves for San Jose in the opener of the first post-season series between two California clubs in four decades.
Game 2 is Sunday night at the Shark Tank.