Ducks rebound vs. ’Hawks

CHICAGO — Frederik Andersen and the Ducks left that grueling Game 2 loss back in Anaheim. They brought their special teams to Chicago.

Andersen made 27 saves, helping Anaheim kill off five power plays, and the Ducks beat the Blackhawks 21 on Thursday night for a 21 lead in the Western Conference finals.

Defenseman Simon Despres scored his first career playoff goal in the second period as topseeded Anaheim bounced back quite nicely from Tuesday night’s tripleovertime loss that included two powerplay goals for Chicago. Patrick Maroon also scored for the Ducks, and Ryan Getzlaf had two assists.

“This was a character win,” coach Bruce Boudreau said.

Ryan Kesler’s two holding penalties contributed to more than nine powerplay minutes for the Blackhawks, but the Ducks’ penalty killers kept most of Chicago’s opportunities to the outside and Andersen stood his ground during a couple of goalmouth scrums.

“Yeah, we just sharpened up on the PK,” Andersen said. “We weren’t satisfied with what we did the last game. That was huge for this group coming off a tough loss where we gave up two goals on the PK. We wanted to be better today.”

Patrick Kane scored his eighth playoff goal for Chicago, and Corey Crawford made 25 saves.

“It’s frustrating that we lost, and frustrating because we had some opportunities whether it was the power play or different chances and stuff that would get me back in the game,” Kane said. “Other than that, we knew it was going to be a tough series. This is a good team. It’s tough to lose, especially at home, but we’ve got to regroup.”

Game 4 is Saturday night in Chicago.

The teams were tied at 1 before Despres drove a pass from Getzlaf past Crawford from the right wing with 55 seconds left in the second. Despres came over in a trade with Pittsburgh in March.

“It’s been a good run so far,” Despres said. “We haven’t done anything yet. We want to get to the top. It’s a team game, and the team has been playing very well so far.”

The Blackhawks outshot the Ducks 105 in the third, but couldn’t get the tying goal as Andersen continued his great run in the playoffs. Anaheim finished with 27 blocked shots, compared to nine for Chicago.

“We have a great team that is willing to sacrifice themselves like that,” said Andersen, who has allowed just 23 goals in the Ducks’ 102 start to the postseason. “It’s awesome to have a group of guys like that in front of you. That helps me out a lot.”