NHL playoff takeaways: Stars-Blues show us what exciting hockey is about – CBSSports.com

The second round of the Western Conference playoffs began on Friday night in Dallas with the Stars defeating the St. Louis Blues, 2-1, in an outstanding, fast-paced hockey game to take an early 1-0 series lead.

Antoine Roussel and Radek Faska provided the offense for the Stars in the win.

Meanwhile, in the late game, the San Jose Sharks took a 1-0 series lead over the Nashville Predators with a 5-2 win thanks to a five-goal third period.

We look at all of that and more with eight takeaways from Friday’s Stanley Cup Playoff action.

1. The Stars and Blues showed us what exciting hockey is. The NHL has had a significant decline in goal scoring over the past 15 years, and it continues to trend in the wrong direction. It is a big problem.

But the bigger problem isn’t necessarily the decline in goals, but the style of play. Too many teams play a safe, risk-free brand hockey that not only takes the goal scoring out of the game, but also any kind of entertainment. Goals are great, but goals alone don’t make a game exciting.

Scoring chances do. A face pace does. A back-and-forth, wide open style of play does.

Friday’s game in Dallas had all of that, and then some.

This game was the example that a low scoring game can be extremely entertaining as long as the two teams are playing with speed and trying to create something. On Friday the Stars and Blues combined for 74 shots on goal, a ton of scoring chances, and were not only playing with speed, but were also a playing a physical game that didn’t really cross the line or feature hitting just for the sake of hitting. There was a purpose behind everything, and it was fantastic.

The only reason this game didn’t feature more goals is because the two goalies, Brian Elliott and Kari Lehtonen, were fantastic thanks to saves like this.

A scoreless #DALvsSTL Game 1 so far, thanks in part to saves like this… #StanleyCuphttps://t.co/fUBz3J0L7t

— #StanleyCup Playoffs (@NHL) April 30, 2016

This is the way the Stars have played all season, and it is one of the things that has made them one one of the NHL’s must-see teams.

2. Jamie Benn vs. David Backes is going to be quite a matchup. The captains of these two teams always seem to get involved in the physical stuff. Earlier this season they dropped the gloves with one another, and on Friday night crossed paths on more than one occasion.

captain on captain pic.twitter.com/syjhpSbmMg

— Stephanie (@myregularface) April 30, 2016

part 3 pic.twitter.com/eHEhstZ7dQ

— Stephanie (@myregularface) April 30, 2016

Backes tried to get Benn to fight again early in the game, but Benn refused to engage him.

3. This style of play really seems to favor the Stars. One thing is for sure about Friday’s game: Blues coach Ken Hitchcock had to hate the pace of it because that is pretty much the exact opposite of the way he has always wanted his teams to play.

If the Stars can keep this series the way it was in Game 1, that would really seems to play into their hands and should give them a great chance to win it. Again, this is the way they want to play. It plays right into their strengths, especially if they get Tyler Seguin back at some point in this series.

The Blues were able to clog things up in the neutral zone against the Chicago Blackhawks in round one and slow them down, but the Stars are playing at much faster and pace and the Blues were never able to get them out of it on Friday. It is only one game, but it was a very encouraging one for the Stars.

4. The Sharks were too much for the Predators in the third period. Trailing 1-0 going into the third period on Friday night, the San Jose Sharks took their play to another level and simply overwhelmed the Predators with five goals over the final 20 minutes.

That third period performance tied a Sharks franchise record for most goals in a period in a playoff game.

.@SanJoseSharks tied a franchise playoff record for most goals in a period (also 5 goals in 2nd period, Game 3 of 2011 CQF at LA). #SJSvsNSH

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 30, 2016

Things started to turn in this game about midway through the second period when the Sharks started to generate more chances and tilt the ice in their favor in terms of possession.

In the third period they finally broke through the wall. Their dangerous power play scored a pair of goals, Brent Burns, on the same day he was announced as a finalist for the Norris Trophy as one of the NHL’s top defensemen, played a dominant game, and a rested Sharks team wore down a Predators team that was coming off one of the biggest wins in franchise history just a couple of days earlier.

5. Joel Ward: Another big playoff goal. Joel Ward is a really good player any time of year, but he always seems to find a way to score in the playoffs. He scored another one on Friday when he gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead in the third period thanks to a slick goal on a breakaway.

Ward now has 15 goals in 59 career playoff games.

6. But seriously, what was the deal with that cat before the game? Is this going to be a new thing? The octopus in Detroit. The catfish in Nashville. The rat in Florida.

And now … a cat in San Jose?

7. Brent Burns was great on Friday. This is why he is one of the best defensemen in the NHL. He finished Game 1 on Friday with two assists, a game-high six shots on goal, three hits, three blocked shots and played a team-high 25 minutes.

He was the best player pretty much every time he was on the ice.

8. The Predators have to stay out of the penalty box. If the series stays 5-on-5 the Predators are going to have a chance to hang around in it and perhaps even win. But if they take penalties the way they did in the third period on Friday and give the Sharks power play opportunities, they are going to be in trouble. This is one of the most talented power play units in the NHL and so far this postseason the Sharks are now 7-for-24 on the power play thanks to a 2-for-3 performance on Friday.