Radek Faksa had two points and Kari Lehtonen stopped 31 shots as the Dallas Stars beat the St Louis Blues 2-1 in Game 1 of their second-round NHL playoff series on Friday.
Faksa scored the eventual winner with 4 minutes, 44 seconds remaining in regulation when he tapped in a rebound after Blues goaltender Brian Elliott stopped a shot from Ales Hemsky.
“I’m very excited after every goal, maybe too excited,” Faksa said. “It’s just part of the game, enjoying every game in the NHL. Just a big excitement for me. It just feels great.”
Photo: Jerome Miron - USA TODAY
In San Jose, Joel Ward’s tiebreaking goal at 11:49 of the third enabled the Sharks to rally for a 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators.
Ward’s fourth career game-winning goal in the playoffs enabled San Jose to take a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference series against the Predators. Game 2 is today at the SAP Center in San Jose.
Antoine Roussel also scored for Dallas, while Kevin Shattenkirk scored for St Louis.
“Yeah, I thought we played a good game,” Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. “Our energy was good. I thought our energy got better as the game went on. I thought we skated well, I thought we defended well. I thought we were physical. It’s a good start to the series for us.”
Dallas lost veteran winger Patrick Eaves to an injury early in the third period. Eaves was struck with a shot by Stephen Johns from the right point and left the ice slowly. Eaves immediately headed to the Dallas dressing room for treatment.
St Louis tied it 1-1 with 8:28 remaining when Shattenkirk scored on a one-timer from the left point that beat goaltender Kari Lehtonen.
Elliott stopped 40 for the Blues.
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