LOS ANGELES — Radek Faksa had two points and Kari Lehtonen stopped 31 shots as the Dallas Stars beat the St. Louis Blues 2-1 in game one of their second-round NHL playoff series Friday.
Faksa scored the eventual winner with 4:44 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.”
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 Western Conference series against the Predators. Game two is Sunday at the SAP Center in San Jose.
Antoine Roussel also scored for Dallas, while Kevin Shattenkirk scored for the St. Louis.
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.
Ducks sack coach Boudreau
The Anaheim Ducks fired head coach Bruce Boudreau Friday, two days after another game-seven defeat in the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Ducks were eliminated by the Nashville Predators Wednesday.
It marked the fourth straight season that Boudreau led the Ducks to the Pacific Division title only for the team to surrender a playoff game-seven at home.
Last season they fell in seven games in the Western Conference finals to the Chicago Blackhawks, who went on to claim the Stanley Cup.
“This was a very difficult decision to make. Bruce is a good coach and character person, and we wish him the best of luck in the future,” said Ducks general manager Bob Murray, who added that the search for a new head coach would begin immediately.
Boudreau was named head coach of the Ducks on Nov. 30, 2011. He compiled a regular-season record of 208-104-40 with Anaheim.
Prior to joining the Ducks, Boudreau was head coach of the Washington Capitals from 2007-11, winning the Jack Adams award as the NHL coach of the year in 2007-08.
