NHL Playoff Schedule 2016: Dates, TV Guide, Bracket and Stanley Cup Standings

The St. Louis Blues are done celebrating their first-round victory over the Chicago Blackhawks, and it's time to get on with the business of confronting the Dallas Stars in the second round.

While the Blues appeared fairly competitive in dropping a 2-1 decision in the series opener Friday night, Ken Hitchcock's team was not at its best in that game.

The Blues don't want to return home Tuesday trailing 2-0 in the series, and if they are going to avoid that fate, they have to pick up a road win against the Stars Sunday afternoon.

If that happens, they are going to need a better effort from sharpshooter Vladimir Tarasenko, who was held off the scoresheet in the opener and had just three shots on goal.

Dallas head coach Lindy Ruff said Tarasenko is in the forefront of the Stars' defensive plans in this series.

"Well, obviously he's the one guy that we got a radar on, that we know when he's out there, we want to make sure we don't give him much ice," Ruff told Louie Korac of NHL.com. "I thought for the most part we didn't make any mistakes that allowed any big rush plays when he was out there."

Game	Series Standings	Time (ET)	TV
St. Louis at Dallas	Dallas, 1-0	4 p.m.	NBC, TVAS, SN
Nashville at San Jose	San Jose, 1-0	8 p.m.	NBCSN, CBC, TVAS

Tarasenko scored four goals in the seven-game win over the Blackhawks, and he is most dangerous when he gets a split second of freedom when he has the puck between the offensive zone face-off circles. When Tarasenko has time to measure his target, he generally does as good a job of finding the range as any shooter in the NHL.

If Tarasenko and the other St. Louis sharpshooters, including Jaden Schwartz, Robby Fabbri and defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, start to get more of their shots through and on goal against Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen, they should have a good chance of dictating the pace in Game 2.

Lehtonen has a 4-1 record in the postseason with a 2.01 goals-against average, but he is vulnerable. He gave up four goals to the Minnesota Wild in the third period of the Stars' clinching Game 6 victory. 

Team	W-L	Skinny
San Jose Sharks	5-1	Exceeding expectations
Pittsburgh Penguins	5-2	Much-needed road win at Washington
Dallas Stars	5-2	Seem vulnerable at this point
Tampa Bay Lightning	5-2	Must find a way to win on the road
Washington Capitals	5-3	Caps can win any way you want to play
N.Y. Islanders	5-3	Will go as far as Tavares can take them
St. Louis Blues	4-4	Need a big win on the road
Nashville Predators	4-4	In tough against streaking Sharks

Lehtonen is aware the Blues are capable of having a much better offensive game than they did in Game 1. "I know they're a great team and they're going to find ways to get more chances," Lehtonen told NHL.com writer Amalie Benjamin. "We need to adapt to that. That's what makes these series more exciting."

In the other Western Conference series, there was excitement aplenty in the third period of the opener between the San Jose Sharks and the Nashville Predators.

The homestanding Sharks went into the final period trailing the Preds by a 1-0 margin, but they tied the score early and took the lead on a scintillating goal by Joel Ward.

Ward broke up the middle shortly after the midway point of the third period and froze Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne with a backhand-forehand move before tucking the puck neatly into the back of the net for a lead the Sharks would not relinquish.

The Sharks added to their lead when Logan Couture scored a power-play goal as he converted from the slot after taking a pass from Joe Pavelski.

San Jose pulled off a 5-2 victory.

The Sharks have been on fire with their power play in the postseason—converting at a 29.2 per cent rate—and the Predators know they can't give San Jose the man advantage.

"We took too many penalties," Ryan Johansen told Eric Gilmore of NHL.com. "It started with me on the [holding] penalty. ... We had a couple uncharacteristic mistakes from there. We have to learn from the game tonight and be ready for the next game."

Nashville proved its ability to win important road games in its first-round series against the Anaheim Ducks. The Predators won three of four games in California, and Game 2 is clearly a situation in which they play another strong game on the road and come away with a series-tying victory.