It's official: The Nashville Predators will not go undefeated in the 2016-17 Stanley Cup playoffs.

And penalties seemed to play a big role in their first loss of the postseason, a 3-2 Game 2 loss in St. Louis on Friday, the same day the Edmonton Oilers cruised to a 2-0 series lead over the Anaheim Ducks.

The big first-round winners out of the West, the Predators took Game 1 against their newest opponent, the Jake Allen-fueled St. Louis Blues, and took the lead on two separate occasions Friday night.

But it was St. Louis, with a pair of goals from Vladimir Tarasenko, the first on one of the Blues' five power-play opportunities, that came out on top to even the series 1-1.

Tarasenko's work is not to be overlooked, nor is the way the Blues got some up-close and personal pressure on Pekka Rinne:

But the big talking point, which certainly had some fans riled up and undid first- and third-period goals from Nashville's James Neal and Ryan Ellis, was a clear abundance of penalty calls on the Predators, who were docked for 23 penalty minutes as opposed to the two handed to St. Louis by the end of the night.

Perhaps it was because the king of undisciplined behavior, Rex Ryan himself, had a seat at Friday's game.

In all seriousness, officiating played a notable role in the Ottawa Senators' first-round series against the Boston Bruins. And it might very well be something to watch if Game 2 of this Nashville-St. Louis bout was any indication.

Other notable numbers from Friday's series-evening matchup: Nashville had only nine shots on goal in the first two periods but unloaded 15 shots in the third period, when the Predators got an unassisted slap-shot score from Ellis. The Blues had more than double the total of blocked shots in Game 2. And St. Louis had four more giveaways despite taking home the victory.

As for the Oilers, whose 2-1 Friday night win gave them a two-game advantage on their Pacific Division rivals from Anaheim, Game 2 was more about the promise of youth than the benefit of opposing-team penalties.

Cam Talbot, who almost shut out Anaheim despite the Ducks' 40 shots on goal, was the obvious MVP thanks to his dominance in net. But Edmonton as a whole, with its efficient start to the series and an attack that looks ever so slightly faster than Anaheim's older unit, came away the winner of Friday night as it prepares for two home games and three home-ice matchups in the series' next four games.