Blackhawks reach Stanley Cup Finals

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Jonathan Toews scored two goals in the opening minutes, Corey Crawford made 35 saves and the Chicago Blackhawks roared into the Stanley Cup Finals with a 5-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals Saturday night.

Brandon Saad, Marian Hossa and Brent Seabrook also scored for the Blackhawks, who will play for their third NHL championship in six seasons when they face the Tampa Bay Lightning beginning Wednesday night in Florida.

After six games of tense hockey in an extraordinary series, Game 7 was an incongruous rout. Toews was responsible for it, burnishing his reputation for big-game brilliance with a rebound goal just 2:23 in and another power-play score before 12 minutes elapsed.

Anaheim lost a Game 7 at home for the third straight season.

Bourdais scores 1st IndyCar win

DETROIT — Sebastien Bourdais raced to his first IndyCar victory of the season Sunday, outlasting Takuma Sato in a caution-filled ending at Belle Isle.

Bourdais held on in his No. 11 Chevrolet in a race that was shortened from 70 laps to 68 because of a two-hour time limit. The first caution didn’t come until lap 37, but there were eight caution periods in all — as well as a red flag with 5:33 remaining on the clock.

Bourdais led coming out of the final caution and had little trouble staying in front. The French driver’s final lap of 1 minute, 17.9133 seconds was the fastest for anyone on the day.

Graham Rahal finished third. Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya was awarded the pole based on entry points when qualifying Sunday morning was halted by bad weather.