ANAHEIM, Calif. - Craig Smith had a goal and an assist, Pekka Rinne made 27 saves and the Nashville Predators confidently claimed their second straight road victory to open their first-round series, 3-2 over the Anaheim Ducks in Game 2 on Sunday night.

Shea Weber and Mattias Ekholm also scored as the Predators took a 2-0 playoff series lead for the first time in franchise history with another win over the Pacific Division champions.

Smith got the tiebreaking goal midway through the second period on a slick setup from Forsberg, and Weber's booming shot put the Predators up 3-1 during a power play.

Nate Thompson cut into the lead with 2:42 to play, but Nashville closed out just its second road playoff victory since 2012.

Game 3 is Tuesday night in Nashville.

Andrew Cogliano scored and John Gibson stopped 24 shots for the Ducks, who have lost four straight postseason games dating to last year's Western Conference finals.

Related: Neal slyly tries to poke stick through Gibson's mask

The Ducks, who lost their regular-season home finale, hadn't lost three straight at Honda Center since mid-November. That was well before their phenomenal run from 29th place in the NHL standings to their fourth straight Pacific Division title.

That run won't last much longer if Anaheim can't solve the Predators, who have won just two playoff series in their entire franchise history - the same number won by Anaheim last season.

Roman Josi and Filip Forsberg each had two assists as Nashville took command of the series and silenced a boisterous arena in Game 2.

The Predators matched Anaheim's physical play, while Forsberg led an opportunistic offense in front of Rinne. The imposing Finnish goalie has outplayed Gibson, the rookie who has lost four straight postseason starts since 2014.

Neither team dominated the series opener, won 3-2 by the Predators. Anaheim gave up an opening-minute goal in Game 1, but held the Predators without a shot in the first five minutes of Game 2.

After Nashville's power play came up empty twice, Cogliano put the Ducks ahead when he blocked a dump-in by Weber and sped past Barret Jackman to score on a breakaway.

Ekholm tied it on a backhand late in the first after a setup from Colin Wilson. Smith then put the Predators ahead midway through the second on a pass from Forsberg after a sharp play along the boards by Josi.

Thompson trimmed the lead with a backhand that deflected off Josi's leg.

The Ducks lost defenseman Josh Manson to an upper-body injury at the first-period horn in Game 1, but veteran Kevin Bieksa returned to the lineup for his first playoff game with Anaheim. Bieksa hadn't played since March 24 due to an undisclosed injury.

NOTES: Weber played his 47th postseason game for Nashville, matching David Legwand for the franchise record. ... James Neal stoked the Ducks' anger later in the second when he took an unpenalized whack at Gibson's mask with his stick long after the whistle blew. ... Weber played 27:36.

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DETROIT - Andreas Athanasiou and Henrik Zetterberg scored, Petr Mrazek made 16 saves and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 on Sunday night.

Related: Watch: Red Wings' Athanasiou follows up brilliant near miss with opening goal

Detroit cut its deficit to 2-1 in the first-round series. Game 4 is Tuesday night at Joe Louis Arena. Game 5, which is now necessary, will be at Tampa Bay.

After brawling late in the last game, gloves were dropped, fists flew and there were piles of players on the ice when the Game 3 ended.

Related: Watch: Boyle taunts Abdelkader with chicken dance

Ben Bishop made 28 saves for the Lightning, who had their top line of Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn shut down after the trio combined for six points in the first two games of the series.

Kucherov scored first in each of the first two games, while Killorn and Johnson scored the tie-breaking goals in the third periods.

Detroit's rookie coach, Jeff Blashill, benched goaltender Jimmy Howard for Game 3 and put Mrazek in net. The move seemed to work, though, as the Red Wings' swarming defense and backchecking forwards limited Tampa Bay's shots on net.

At the other end, the Red Wings kept Bishop much busier.

Athanasiou, a rookie, scored his first career playoff goal midway through the second period on a one-timer from the left circle that fluttered between Bishop's stick on the short side.

Zetterberg, in his 13th postseason, crashed the net late in the second period and was credited with a goal that appeared to go off his left skate. The goal stood after a video review and a challenge from Lightning coach Jon Cooper.

Blashill made another decision that paid off by putting Brendan Smith, who had been a healthy scratch since March 26, in the lineup instead of Kyle Quincey in the lineup. Smith used his right shoulder to put Cedric Paquette on his back early in the game. Smith, an agitating player, also drew another penalty late in the game.

Tampa Bay went on the power play for the first time late in the second period and got a second opportunity to have an extra skater early in the third, and failed to take advantage of the chances to pull within a goal.

Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk, who said he plans to retire from the NHL after the playoffs, was called for tripping with 5:40 left and his teammates prevented Tampa Bay from making the most of the opportunity.

The Lightning pulled Bishop to add an extra skater with 2:28 left, but had to put him back in next 11 seconds later because Braydon Coburn was called for interference for hitting Smith, who didn't have a stick as he tried to push him away from the net.

Mrazek didn't have to make many saves, but he made enough to shut out the high-scoring Lightning. He had two shutouts against them last year, pushing the series to a Game 7 before being eliminated with a 2-0 loss.

NOTES: Lightning F J.T. Brown missed the game with an upper-body injury. ... Detroit D Alexey Marchenko was knocked out of part of the game after getting checked into the glass by Vladislav Namestnikov and needing stitches to repair a cut on his forehead.

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CHICAGO - Jaden Schwartz scored at 13:32 of the third period with Patrick Kane in the penalty box for high-sticking, and the St. Louis Blues beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 on Sunday for a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Related: Watch: Blues break down Blackhawks, scoring dagger with 1-touch sequence

Patrik Berglund also scored in the third as St. Louis rallied for the win after a difficult 3-2 loss in Game 2 that included two key coach's challenges that went against the Blues. Brian Elliott made 44 saves, keeping St. Louis in the game during Chicago's strong second period.

Kane, the NHL's leading scorer this season and one of the favorites for league MVP, got four minutes for a high stick on defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, and St. Louis made the most of the chance to go in front.

Vladimir Tarasenko passed down low to David Backes, who sent it right to Schwartz in the slot. He beat Crawford low on the glove side for his third career playoff goal and a 3-2 lead with 6:38 left.

The Blackhawks pulled Corey Crawford for an extra attacker with 1:10 remaining, but Elliott and the Blues held on. Game 4 is Tuesday night in Chicago.

Brent Seabrook and Artem Anisimov scored for the Blackhawks, who dropped to 28-7 in home playoff games since the 2013 postseason. It was their first home playoff game since they hoisted the Stanley Cup at the United Center last June.

Anisimov's fluttering shot past Elliott at 1:04 of the second put Chicago in front, and Crawford's stellar play helped preserve the 2-1 lead for a while.

First, Crawford stuffed Carl Gunnarsson on a nice look in front. Then Blackhawks defenseman Michal Rozsival had an ugly turnover and Crawford made an outstanding glove save on Jori Lehtera at 5:31.

The sellout crowd of 22,207 responded with cheers of ''Co-rey! Co-rey!'' and then resumed the chants after the goaltender turned away Lehtera again and Tarasenko on a couple more prime opportunities. He finished with 33 saves.

Elliott had his own series of impressive stops on a Blackhawks power play in the second. He also caught a break when Andrew Ladd's shot bounced off the left post and then the right one with about 6:20 to go.

Berglund tied it at 5:15 of the third when his shot from the middle of the ice went off the inside of Rozsival's right leg and then skipped over Crawford's glove.

The pace of play only picked up after the teams exchanged power-play goals in the first, with Brent Seabrook scoring for Chicago and Colton Parayko responding for St. Louis. The Blackhawks outshot the Blues 24-13 in the second.

NOTES: Blues C Steve Ott replaced Ryan Reaves in the lineup for his first game since Dec. 5. Ott had hamstring surgery and then was diagnosed with colitis. ... Blackhawks F Dale Weise, who was acquired in a Feb. 26 trade with Montreal, got into the lineup for the first time in the series. F Richard Panik also was active, while Fs Andrew Desjardins and Brandon Mashinter were on the scratch list.

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LOS ANGELES - Captain Joe Pavelski scored his third goal in two games, Martin Jones made 27 saves and the San Jose Sharks took a 2-0 series lead on the Los Angeles Kings with a 2-1 victory in Game 2 on Saturday night.

Logan Couture also scored for the Sharks, who largely dominated their California rivals in their second straight road victory.

Jones made several key stops against his former Los Angeles teammates and hung on after losing his shutout bid on Vincent Lecavalier's power-play goal with 5:01 to play.

Jonathan Quick stopped 21 shots while losing to his former backup again.

Neither team has forgotten the Kings lost the first three games of their first-round series with San Jose in 2014, only to win four straight.

Game 3 is Monday night at the Shark Tank.

This is familiar territory: The Sharks went up 3-0 on Los Angeles in the first round in 2014, only to become the fourth team in NHL history to blow that lead when the Kings roared back.

While the Sharks' core is largely the same, the addition of several complementary players and coach Peter DeBoer suggest things could be different this year.

The Sharks led the NHL with 28 road victories this season, and they've snagged two more at Staples Center. But now they've got to go back to San Jose, where they were a sub-.500 team.

Pavelski was dominant in the series opener, scoring on the Sharks' first shot before adding the go-ahead goal early in the third period. He scored on the Sharks' first shot again in Game 2, slipping it through traffic past Quick, his U.S. Olympic teammate.

When Los Angeles took simultaneous penalties in the second period, Couture scored during 5-on-3 play after Quick got far out of position.

The Kings struggled for offense despite a boost from the return of Marian Gaborik, who missed the past two months with a knee injury. Top goal-scorer Tyler Toffoli was shut out again, and top scorer Anze Kopitar made little impact as the Sharks largely confined the Kings to the perimeter of the ice.

Lecavalier finally ended the Kings' 77:41 scoreless stretch with a rebound goal, but they couldn't equalize with Quick pulled in the final seconds.

Gaborik had missed 29 straight games since Feb. 12, but he returned to the Kings' starting lineup for Game 2. The Slovak scorer had a phenomenal postseason in 2014, contributing 14 goals on the way to his first Stanley Cup title.

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WASHINGTON - Washington's Braden Holtby made 41 saves, Philadelphia's Steve Mason gave up a goal from 101 feet away and Alex Ovechkin scored on the power play and the Capitals beat the Flyers 4-1 in Game 2 Saturday night to take a 2-0 series lead.

Ovechkin's 37th Stanley Cup playoff goal was as predictable as Jason Chimera's goal from beyond the red line was unexpected. Mason whiffed at the puck on what turned out to be the game-winner.

Related: Steve Mason allows goal on 100-foot deflection by Jason Chimera

The Flyers outshot the Capitals 42-23 and dominated for much of the game, but came up empty as John Carlson scored his second power-play goal in as many games and Nicklas Backstrom added one at even strength late. Jake Voracek scored the Flyers' only goal.

The series shifts to Philadelphia for Game 3 on Monday night.

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PITTSBURGH - Keith Yandle and Derick Brassard scored 18 seconds apart in the second period and Henrik Lundqvist looked just fine dealing with an eye injury and the New York Rangers stopped the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 on Saturday to even their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series at one game.

Mats Zuccarello and Chris Kreider also scored for the Rangers. J.T. Miller added three assists and New York handed Pittsburgh just its third loss in its past 18 games.

Lundqvist finished with 29 saves and showed no ill effects after getting accidentally slashed in the right eye by a teammate in Game 1, forcing him to leave after the first period.

Game 3 is Tuesday in New York.

Phil Kessel scored his first two playoff goals in three years, but the Penguins' defense broke down in front of backup goaltender Jeff Zatkoff, who made 24 saves.

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ANAHEIM, Calif. - Filip Forsberg got credit for the tiebreaking goal with 9:35 to play, and the Nashville Predators opened their first-round playoff series with a 3-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night.

Pekka Rinne made 27 saves for the Predators, who got the early jump on the Pacific Division champion Ducks with a gritty road effort.

James Neal and Colin Wilson also scored, while Forsberg scored the go-ahead goal when his cross-ice pass to Craig Smith hit defenseman Shea Theodore's skate and trickled past John Gibson.

Forsberg was dangerous all night, and not just with the puck. His open-ice hit on Josh Manson at the first-period buzzer knocked the Anaheim defenseman out of the game.

Game 2 is Sunday night in Anaheim.

Captain Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler scored for the Ducks, who lost an opener for just the second time in seven playoff series under coach Bruce Boudreau.

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SUNRISE, Fla. - Roberto Luongo made 41 saves for his first playoff win in five years, and the Florida Panthers evened their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series by beating the New York Islanders 3-1 on Friday night.

Reilly Smith and Nick Bjugstad each had a goal and an assist for Florida, which salvaged a split in the series-opening back-to-back. Dmitry Kulikov added an empty-netter with 9.3 seconds left to clinch the win.

John Tavares scored a goal for his sixth consecutive game going back to the regular season, denying Luongo the shutout with 3:33 left. Thomas Greiss stopped 28 shots for the Islanders.

The series now shifts to Brooklyn, for Game 3 on Sunday and Game 4 on Wednesday.

It was Luongo's first playoff win since Game 5 of the 2011 Stanley Cup finals. He had lost his last seven postseason starts - giving up at least three goals in every one - and had been part of eight consecutive playoff losses in all, counting a relief stint in 2013. And all that came after he was victimized by Florida defensive breakdowns in Game 1 on Thursday night, which played a big role in him giving up five goals on 26 New York shots.

What a difference a day made.

And after 456 appearances for Florida, Luongo finally has a postseason win for the team. Some of his saves were spectacular, like when he denied the Islanders' Ryan Strome from point-blank range in the slot midway through the second period, and another when he managed to deflect a shot off the stick of Cal Clutterbuck - who was getting hauled down by Florida's Alex Petrovic early in the third.

Petrovic was sent to the box and Luongo stopped three more shots on the ensuing power play, including a pair from Tavares - who had a three-point night in Game 1.

Luongo got all the scoring help he needed early.

Smith scored at 4:32 of the first, getting his third goal of the series, and Bjugstad's first career playoff goal came early in the second period when he one-timed a pass from Smith past Greiss for a 2-0 lead.

The Panthers wasted three one-goal leads in Game 1. Nothing slipped away in Game 2.

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TAMPA, Fla. - Tyler Johnson scored a pair of third-period goals Friday night, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.

Ben Bishop had 30 saves for the defending Eastern Conference champions, who took the first two games at home despite playing without injured leading goal scorer Steven Stamkos and defenseman Anton Stralman.

A bloody brawl involving several players capped this one, with 14 penalties called - including a game misconduct on Justin Abdelkader - with 54 seconds left.

Game 3 is Sunday in Detroit, where the Red Wings won both regular-season meetings between the teams.

Johnson put Tampa Bay ahead for good barely two minutes after Detroit's Brad Richards made it 2-2 with a power-play goal. Nikita Kucherov and Brian Boyle also scored for the Lightning, who tacked on Alex Killorn's empty-netter with 2:14 remaining.

Johnson also had two assists, the first on Kucherov's 5-on-3 power-play goal. Kucherov and Killorn had the primary assists on Johnson's goals, and Jonathan Drouin got his first career playoff point, setting up Boyle to give Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead.

Rookie Dylan Larkin scored a first-period goal for Detroit, which outshot the Lightning (32-31) for the second straight game.

The line of Johnson, Kucherov and Killorn had three goals and three assists for Tampa Bay in Game 1, with Killorn scoring the winner to finish a comeback from a 2-1 deficit.

Kucherov's third goal of the series, on a shot from the right circle that skipped over Howard's left shoulder, got the Lightning off to another strong start. Victor Hedman and Johnson assisted after Kucherov hit the crossbar from the left circle with Red Wings Gustav Nyquist (slashing) and Abdelkader (tripping) in the penalty box.

Larkin's first career goal made it 1-1 at 3:30 of the second period, but the Red Wings failed to take advantage of three power-play opportunities and entered the final period trailing by a goal after Boyle scored from the slot off a pass from Drouin, who has played a bigger than expected role for the Lightning since being recalled from the minors on April 7.

The 21-year-old Drouin has gone from being benched, demanding a trade and eventually being sent to the minors, where he also served a suspension for refusing to play for Syracuse of the AHL. He scored in his first two games after being recalled and had more than 18 minutes of ice time - second among Tampa Bay forwards - in Game 1 on Wednesday night.

Detroit pulled even again, with Richards scoring on the team's fifth power-play opportunity of the night. The Red Wings were 0 for 8 in the series before that goal.

NOTES: Bishop, who led the NHL in goals-against average and was second in save percentage, set the tone early for the Lightning, stopping 15 shots in the opening period. ... Larkin went from not being sure he'd be on Detroit's roster in the preseason to scoring a team-high 23 goals and tying for third on the team with 45 points. ... This is only the third time in 18 series that Tampa Bay has taken a 2-0 lead.

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LOS ANGELES - Joe Pavelski broke a tie with his second goal early in the third period, and the San Jose Sharks opened their playoff return with a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.

Brent Burns and Tomas Hertl scored for the Sharks in their first postseason game since losing four straight to the Kings in 2014, completing a seven-game flop in the first round. Los Angeles rode the momentum to its second Stanley Cup title, but both California rivals missed the playoffs last year.

San Jose's Martin Jones made 19 saves against his former Los Angeles teammates in his first career playoff start.

Trevor Lewis scored a short-handed goal and Jonathan Quick stopped 19 shots for the Kings.

Game 2 is Saturday night at Staples Center.

Jake Muzzin and Jeff Carter also scored, but Los Angeles struggled to keep up for long stretches of the two-time champs' return to the postseason.

The fourth playoff meeting in six seasons between these familiar foes got off to a thrilling start, with both teams trading huge hits and erasing early deficits within seconds of falling behind.

San Jose dominated long stretches of play, but Los Angeles kept it close with two goals banked in off the Sharks' defense.

San Jose got another monster offensive game from Pavelski, their captain and a 38-goal scorer. He put the Sharks ahead 17 seconds into the third period, circling the net with the puck and holding off Anze Kopitar before firing home a wraparound goal.

Burns had a goal and an assist, and Joel Ward contributed two assists as the Sharks carried the play for most of the game.

The Kings led the Pacific Division for most of the second half of the season, and they led Winnipeg 3-0 late in the second period of their season finale before blowing the game and the division banner. Los Angeles' defensive struggles continued in the postseason, giving up six goals in a 66-minute span dating to the regular season.

But the Staples Center fans hadn't cleared all of the confetti from Kobe Bryant's 60-point career finale out of their seats before Muzzin put the Kings ahead, adroitly banking in a puck off Hertl's skate. Pavelski evened it with a one-timer on a power play moments later, getting his 27th playoff goal.

Burns put the Sharks ahead early in the second with a long wrist shot, but Carter tied it 40 seconds later with a power-play goal that banked in off Paul Martin.

Lewis put the Kings back ahead late in the second with a long rush and an exceptional toe-drag for a short-handed goal, but Hertl tied it off a scrum 30 seconds later.

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