Following his beard-pulling battle with San Jose Sharks forward Joe Thornton during Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, David Backes gave an entertaining explanation as to what happened during the first period.

Related: Backes, Thornton engage in beard tug of war​

"Just seeing whose is real and making sure that they were glued on well," the St. Louis Blues captain joked, per NHL.com's Lou Korac. "It seemed like both checked out and we moved on with life."

In the end, Backes said this is all part of what will be a tough, competitive series.

"We love the competition and get the emotions running high," he continued. "Both guys are trying to establish themselves in this series and here's a couple big bodies going at it and you love that competition."

After the Blues went on to take the series opener 2-1, Thornton and his beard will look for revenge in Game 2 on Tuesday.

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Brian Elliott could get used to playing against the San Jose Sharks.

The St. Louis Blues netminder was nearly perfect in his team's 2-1 victory in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final and in doing so extended his unbeaten streak against the Sharks in postseason play.

Elliott has been stellar for the Blues in their pursuit of their first Stanley Cup. The 31-year-old currently holds the sixth best goals-against average - of goalies with at least five games played this posteason - with a 2.20, and the fifth-best save percentage with a .932 mark.

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Ken Hitchcock is a man of the people.

The St. Louis Blues head coach made a questionable decision to use a coach's challenge after a goal scored by Patrik Berglund in the first period was waved off due to goaltender interference, but it was all with the league in mind - or so he says.

"The league is looking for goals and I'm trying to help them out," Hitchcock said, according to Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Dispatch.

The disallowed goal and lost time-out didn't seem to phase the Blues who skated to a 2-1 victory.

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Joe Thornton is a wizard the puck.

So much so that he can make them disappear. The San Jose Sharks forward got the game started Sunday with a bizarre incident that saw a Brent Burns point shot get stuck in his pants, bringing play to a halt.

The search had to be taken to the bench where Thornton remained baffled. Luckily the puck was eventually found.

Video courtesy: NHL.com

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The NHL playoffs can get a bit hairy as teams move closer to the Stanley Cup Final.

San Jose Sharks forward Joe Thornton and St. Louis Blues forward David Backes proved this on Sunday when the two - in the midst of a tussle - gave a nice tug on each others's beard.

Backes clearly has the advantage in terms of beard length, but Thornton could get redemption as the series prolongs and Backes' beard grows.

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The St. Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks appear set to go shot-for-shot.

Just 34 seconds after David Backes deflected his seventh goal of the postseason past Martin Jones to give his club a 1-0 lead, Joe Pavelski knotted things up with an identical strike.

Pavelski's 10th of the playoffs pushes him one ahead of Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov for the league lead.

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Former Toronto Maple Leafs forward Darcy Tucker looks ready to back the city's MLB squad.

Following a crazy scene Sunday that saw Texas Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor punch Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista in the face, setting off a bench-clearing brawl, Tucker made his free-agent status known.

Tucker amassed 1,410 penalty minutes and 82 career fights - according to hockeyfights.com - during his 16-year NHL career.

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Tampa Bay's blue line could receive a huge boost Monday night, as top-pairing defenseman Anton Stralman's status was upgraded to day to day, and he could be available for Game 2, head coach Jon Cooper said.

Stralman broke his leg in late March and hasn't played since, but is showing few ill-effects at this point, according to Cooper.

Stralman's recovery has to be a huge sigh of relief for the Lightning, who are also dealing with injuries to captain Steven Stamkos and goalie Ben Bishop.

In the regular season, Stralman registered nine goals and 25 assists while averaging 22:05 of ice-time.

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Ben Bishop might be Wolverine.

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said Sunday that the goaltender hasn't been ruled out for Game 2 against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night, despite leaving Game 1 on a stretcher.

Bishop didn't practice Sunday, and Cooper said his netminder is still day to day after departing early in Friday's win following an awkward fall in the crease.

Andrei Vasilevskiy and Kristers Gudlevskis took the ice for Sunday's practice. Vasilevskiy stopped 25 of 26 shots after relieving Bishop in Game 1.

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The San Jose Sharks' new unofficial mascot has been adopted.

"Jo PAW-velski" - the black cat that ran on to the ice before a game between the Sharks and the Nashville Predators in San Jose last month - found a home Friday, the Sharks announced via the San Jose Mercury News.

"We are pleased to know that ‘Jo’ has found a good, loving home,” Sharks COO John Tortora said in a statement.

“I want to personally thank the staff and volunteers at the Humane Society Silicon Valley for the time and attention they have dedicated to ‘Jo’ and the other animals in their care.

"I also want to thank our fans who immediately expressed concern for the well-being of the cat. I would like to encourage all fans who were interested in adopting ‘Jo’ to now consider adopting one of the other many animals at HSSV in need of a home.”

Jo, a three-month-old kitten, was adopted along with a companion kitten and had been under the care of the HSSV since May 1.

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