CHICAGO - The Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers waged a Stanley Cup opener that was at times wild and sloppy, a high-scoring, up-and-down game with five lead changes and a winning goal from an unlikely hero.

Tomas Kopecky, scratched in the previous five games and playing because of an injury to Andrew Ladd, took a great pass from Kris Versteeg in the third period and scored from a tough angle past backup goalie Brian Boucher to send Chicago to a 6-5 victory Saturday night.

"I kind of knew he was going to pass it once it once he got around. I kind of got it on a long reach and I saw him come out and before the game we were talking about both goalies," Kopecky said.

The Blackhawks took advantage of starter Michael Leighton and Boucher to grab the early lead in the series.

"They challenge the puck a little bit, so I was just kind of a little patient and I just slid it in," Kopecky said of his goal.

The Blackhawks took the first step toward ending their 49-year championship drought and found out what they knew going in - it's going to be a difficult series against a gritty Philadelphia team on a remarkable run.

"They came out strong, they were playing really physical," Chicago forward Kris Versteeg said. "We had to match them, and once we did that, I think we did well."

On this night, pucks seemed to find the net as often as they did sticks as both teams had trouble with control.

"The ice is below average," Philadelphia's Scott Hartnell said.

"It's really chippy. A lot of snow accumulates really fast, so after the first couple of minutes you don't see those nice crisp passes and things like that. It's hot outside and humid and stuff like that so hopefully they'll be able to do a better job for Game 2, the ice guys."

Game 2 is Monday night at the United Center.

"You lose the first game of the Stanley Cup finals and it's hard to sit here and thumb through the positives right now," Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said. "We'll take a look at it tonight and tomorrow. We'll be ready to go."