DALLAS -- Don’t sleep on the Dallas Stars. The Stars continue to show that their regular-season success was no fluke, with an impressive 2-1 win in Game 1 over the St. Louis Blues.

How it happened: After the Blues looked to make a late-game push, including a goal from Kevin Shattenkirk that tied the score in the third, the Stars answered with a goal of their own.

Ales Hemsky drove the net, got a backhand shot on goal that was saved by Brian Elliott and Radek Faksa drove home the rebound for the winner. It secured a win the Stars absolutely deserved, controlling play pretty much from start to finish in this one.

As they did for most of the series against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Blues especially struggled in the second period. Antoine Roussel opened the scoring by banging home a rebound off the rush on Elliott, who was otherwise perfect in a second period in which he was tested early or often. Elliott did his part to keep the Blues in the game but didn't get the offensive support needed.

Roussel struck first in what could be a festering feud between him and Blues pest Steve Ott, especially when Ott lobbed the first grenade heading into this game when he was asked about Roussel.

"There are a lot better players to worry about over there," Ott said Friday morning. As it turns out, Roussel deserved some of the worry.

What it means: The emotional first-round series win against the Blackhawks seemed to lead to a bit of a hangover for the Blues. They never got going at the same level of play they did in the first round and the Stars capitalized, getting them to play their up-tempo game rather than the grind-it-out style the Blues prefer.

This series could hinge on which of these two teams impose their will and style of play on the other team, and the Stars were quite successful in Game 1. This is also another nice confidence builder for goalie Kari Lehtonen, who stopped 31 of 32 shots to earn another win.

In eliminating the Blackhawks, the Blues staked their claim as the team to beat in the West, but the Stars quickly quieted that talk with this nice Game 1 win.