James Neal played the role of hero in Game 1 as the Nashville Predators forward drilled a one-timer past John Gibson midway through the first overtime period to help his team earn a 3-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night.

The goal was a relief for the Predators in more ways than one as Neal had left the game earlier after appearing to suffer an injury. Luckily, he returned and the Predators were all the better for it, earning their first win in their first ever appearance in a conference finals series.

Overall, Nashville severely outshot the Ducks, recording a 46-29 advantage over Anaheim, including a 15-6 margin in the first period.

As for Neal, the goal was his fourth of the postseason, giving him a share of the team lead alongside Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis, and Filip Forsberg.

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The Nashville Predators are getting contributions from everyone this postseason.

Thanks to a fortunate bounce early in the second period of Game 1 against the Anaheim Ducks, Austin Watson became the 15th different Predators player to score a goal in the 2017 playoffs - the most of any club this postseason and a franchise record, according to Bob Waterman of Elias Sports Bureau.

The Predators have played just 11 games and were averaging 2.8 goals per game entering Friday. Roman Josi, Filip Forsberg, and Ryan Ellis lead the club with four tallies apiece.

As for Watson, his first of the postseason helped give his club a 2-1 lead.

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Maybe some pain-numbing NBA playoff action will cure what ails Alex Ovechkin.

Related: Ovechkin's wife shares grisly photo of playoff injury

The Russian superstar was still in D.C., on Friday, attending Verizon Center to show support for the Washington Wizards as they tangled with the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Props to Ovie for turning up at the scene of the crime less than 48 hours after being eliminated from the postseason by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

His Capitals were handed their golfing papers Wednesday night, as the Pens defeated Washington 2-0, taking the series 4-3 in seven games.

Well, at least the Wizards still have a shot ...

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The Dallas Stars have their man in the blue paint.

Finally.

The club announced the signing of netminder Ben Bishop to a six-year, $29.5-million deal on Friday, and later in the afternoon the 30-year-old gave his first conference call as a member of the Stars and opened up about why he chose Big D.

"It's hard to find forwards that can score like the Stars can. They have a lot of them," said Bishop, according to Mark Stepneski of NHL.com. "As a goalie, it makes it a little more comforting knowing that the guys can go out there and score and you just have to do your job and stop the puck."

Sure, the Stars can score with the best of them. But maybe Bishop is forgetting about the other end of the spectrum: defense.

The club struggled mightily in its own end during the 2016-17 season, ranking 29th in the league in goals-against average and dead last in save percentage. Time has run out for the duo of Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi who were both downright awful at times.

To be fair, Dallas' crease has been a hot mess for at least three seasons. With last year being especially hard to watch, particularly for general manager Jim Nill, who is excited to have a 6-foot-7 goaltender of Bishop's caliber.

"He's an elite goalie the last six to eight years, and I think he is just coming into his prime. He's a little bit of a late bloomer," Nill said.

"He's big in net, and he has good, strong goalie fundamentals. He's outstanding at handling the puck. I think he is going to make a big difference as far as us moving the puck out of our zone."

Regardless of the high praise, last season was a down year for Bishop.

The former third-round pick had his share of struggles, going 18-15-5 with only one shutout over a season shared between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Los Angeles Kings.

However, next year is a fresh start for Bishop, who promptly becomes the No.1 option in Dallas while also offering an immediate injection of defensive relevance the club has not felt since Marty Turco's Vezina-nominated season of 2002-03.

Good luck, Ben!

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Alexander Ovechkin had a rough week.

Not only were his Washington Capitals bounced from the postseason for the ninth time of Ovechkin's 12-year career, but it was also revealed that No.8 had been playing through a number of ailments, going as far as taking pain-numbing injections just to get into the lineup every night.

Friday was locker clean-out day in D.C., and earlier in the afternoon Ovechkin's wife, Anastasia Shebskaya, shared on her personal Instagram account what appears to be a picture of Ovie's injured leg.

It remains unclear if the above nastiness was suffered following the hit Ovechkin took from Toronto Maple Leafs centre Nazem Kadri in the first round last month, or from another one of the many knocks the rough-and-tumble forward incurs thanks to his aggressive style of play.

Either way, one thing remains clear: You can question his ability to produce in the clutch, but you certainly can't question his character.

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Evgeny Kuznetsov will play at least another 21 years in the NHL, or at least in theory.

The Washington Capitals forward was asked on Friday about his pending free agency - he will become a restricted free agent July 1 - and doesn't appear to be worried about the term of his next deal, but more if he'll be able to follow in the footsteps of Jaromir Jagr.

The 45-year-old Jagr has 21 years on the Russian, so Kuznetsov is just scratching the surface. The problem for him though is ... Jagr is still playing!

So maybe a very long-term contract is in order.

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The San Jose Sharks re-signed forward Melker Karlsson to a three-year contract and forward Joonas Donskoi to a two-year deal on Friday, the team announced.

Karlsson's deal will pay him an average of $2 million per season, while Donskoi will make an average of $1.9 million per year, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

"Melker plays an up-tempo, high-energy game and brings flexibility to our lineup wherever he plays," general manager Doug Wilson said in a relase. "His tenacious style of play fits our team perfectly, and we feel confident using him in many different situations. He kills penalties, can play with high-end players and brings an honest effort night in and night out. We're excited he has made this commitment to the organization."

As for Donskoi, Wilson also praised the 25-year-old's play at both ends of the rink.

"Joonas plays a solid two-way game, combining his skill and creativity with an aggressive, hard-working effort in all three zones," Wilson said. "He plays the game the way we want to play as a team, and we feel he has only scratched the surface of his abilities. He battled through multiple injuries last season and we look forward to having him healthy at training camp this season."

Karlsson played a career-high 67 games this season contributing 11 goals and 11 assists. Meanwhile, Donskoi was far less impressive in his second season in the league posting six goals and 17 points after hitting 11 and 36 last season.

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Warning: Story contains graphic images

Tampa Bay Lightning and Team Sweden blue-liner Victor Hedman had a very close call on Friday at the World Hockey Championship in Cologne, Germany.

During Sweden's 8-1 dismantling of Team Italy, Hedman was injured after a mid-ice collision where his visor cracked upon delivering a hit to forward Michele Marchetti.

The visor split and sliced Hedman both below and above his left eye, quite obviously the lower cut was the main cause for concern, needing stitches to close up.

Hedman is suiting up at the worlds for the Tre Kronor for the third time of his career, previously taking home a bronze medal in 2010.

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