Kane continues to make strides on defense

Patrick Kane's defensive game still a is work in progress as he showed in Game 1 on Saturday night, when he was minus-3 in the Blackhawks' 6-5 win.

Kane, Jonathan Toews and Dustin Byfuglien each was minus-3.

Defenseman Brian Campbell had a rough night as well and played only 13 minutes. Brent Sopel got most of Campbell's minutes as the game went in, finishing with more than 21.

Kane has been making strong strides with his defensive play as general manager Stan Bowman noted earlier in the week.

After two years of having his defensive game picked apart, Kane was plus-16 during the regular season and was plus-2 in the playoffs going into Game 1.

"He's starting to round his game out," Bowman said. "He's always had those (offensive) talents, but you're seeing it more now; he's coming back and he's stripping pucks from behind.

"I remember telling people at the time when he was being criticized as a rookie to give him a few years here. They were comparing him to (Pavel) Datsyuk and (Henrik) Zetterberg, and those guys were 28 years old.

"He just never had to be that guy," Bowman said. "He was always the guy who was told, 'Go score goals for us.' Now he's being told we need him to do other things, and he's done it.

"Five years from now he's going to be an even better player than he is today."

Kane said as far back as training camp he wanted to become a player whom coach Joel Quenneville could depend on in all situations.

"The big thing this year was to be a better two-way player," Kane said. "My first two years in the league I was a minus player."

Watching Marian Hossa night after night has shown Kane how it should be done.

"You see how good he is defensively and how he works so hard to get back and how it translates offensively," Kane said.

Ladd misses opener: Andrew Ladd just wasn't ready to play in Game 1 after suffering an upper-body injury last Sunday against San Jose.

"We still expect him to play (in the series)," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said.

Tomas Kopecky took Ladd's spot with Dave Bolland and Kris Versteeg, playing for the first time since Game 5 of the Vancouver series, and wound up scoring the winning goal in the third period.

"He sees a play, can see the ice and can check as well," Quenneville said.

Faulty mask: Twice goalie Antti's Niemi's mask came off in the third period, resulting in an automatic stoppage of play under league rules.

The Flyers weren't happy about it.

"The first time (the strap) just opened and the next one the strap was cut," Niemi said. "I didn't know what to do. It never happened to me before."

Boucher returns: Flyers backup goalie Brian Boucher, who relieved Michael Leighton in the second period, was back in uniform for the first time since Game 5 against Boston in the second round when he hurt his knee.

Boucher, another former Hawk, was the Flyers' No. 1 goalie entering the playoffs, giving way to Michael Leighton when he got hurt.

Long and short: Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger played 32 minutes and 21 seconds. Defenseman Ryan Parent took one shift for 41 seconds.