Jordan Staal and the Pittsburgh Penguins showed they still have plenty of talent, even with Marian Hossa now in Detroit.
Staal had a hat trick in the third period and set up Ruslan Fedotenko’s goal with 1:11 left in overtime, lifting the Penguins to a 7-6 comeback win over the Red Wings on Tuesday night.
Hossa chose to sign a one-year deal worth about $7.5 million with the Stanley Cup champions and turned down nearly $50 million over seven seasons to stay with the runner-up Penguins – saying he had a better chance to win a title in Detroit.
“There are no hard feelings from this dressing room,” Staal said.
Hossa had two assists against his former teammates, and insisted they became merely opponents just five months after playing with them.
“After the puck dropped for the first faceoff, I didn’t even think about it,” Hossa said. “I just tried to focus on my game.”
In other NHL games on Tuesday night, it was: Nashville 4, San Jose 3, in overtime; Los Angeles 3, Dallas 2, in a shootout; Montreal 4, Ottawa 0; Calgary 4, Toronto 3; and Philadelphia 3, New York Islanders 1.
h the third, giving the defending-champion Red Wings a two-goal lead.
“I thought it was going to be over when Hudler scored,” Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “Then we self-destructed.”
Staal’s second goal with 4:09 left pulled Pittsburgh within one, then Staal forced overtime by scoring with 23 seconds left on a rebound off Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom.
“It seemed like everything I touched went in,” said Staal, who had just two goals in his first 14 games.
Staal set up the overtime goal by lifting Pavel Datsyuk’s stick from behind, snagging the puck away and setting up Fedotenko’s one-timer with a perfect pass to the right circle.
Sidney Crosby scored the game’s first goal at 4:34 of the first, giving Pittsburgh its only lead in regulation. Evgeni Malkin scored in the third to extend his points streak to 11 games.
Darren McCarty, Tomas Holmstrom, Johan Franzen, Henrik Zetterberg, and Datsyuk also scored for Detroit.
Predators 4, Sharks 3, OT
At San Jose, Calif., Ville Koistinen scored with 2:32 left in overtime, and Dan Ellis made 54 saves against San Jose’s franchise-record shooting barrage.
Ryan Suter and Vernon Fiddler scored tying goals in the third period for Nashville, and Ellis’ brilliance kept his club in a one-sided game. Jason Arnott also scored for the Predators, who snapped a three-game losing streak and ended the Sharks’ nine-game home win streak.
Devin Setoguchi had two goals and an assist and matched a Sharks record with 10 shots. San Jose, which lost for the first tome at home, shattered the franchise record of 50 shots well before overtime, finishing with 57.
Only Setoguchi and Rob Blake managed to beat Ellis, the former journeyman goalie in just his second full season with the Predators.
Kings 3, Stars 2, SO
At Los Angeles, Alexander Frolov scored in the fifth round of a shootout, and Jarret Stoll had a power-play goal for the Kings in his 300th NHL game.
Dustin Brown also scored and Kings backup Erik Ersberg made 17 saves in the opener of a home-and-home set that concludes Thursday night at Dallas.
Jere Lehtinen scored in his season debut for the Stars after missing the first 14 games because of a groin injury. Mike Modano had his 533rd career goal after going six games without a goal or an assist.
Canadiens 4, Senators 0
At Montreal, Chris Higgins scored three goals and Carey Price got his first shutout of the season to lead Montreal.
Higgins scored a short-handed goal 7:22 in before extending the Canadiens’ lead to 2-0 with 5:49 left in the second period.
The Smithtown, N.Y., native completed his first career NHL hat trick on a breakaway with 3:25 left.
Guillaume Latendresse also scored for Montreal, which had lost consecutive games (0-1-1) for the first time this season.
pped 28 shots for his fourth career shutout.
Alex Auld made 27 saves for Ottawa.
Flames 4, Maple Leafs 3
At Calgary, Alberta, Dustin Boyd had two goals and Jarome Iginla and Dion Phaneuf also scored for the Flames, who had lost four of their last five.
Miikka Kiprusoff made 29 saves for Calgary.
Boyd gave the Flames a 4-1 lead with 8:47 left for his first career two-goal game. He fired in a rebound after Vesa Toskala stopped Marc Giordano’s slap shot.
Nik Antropov and Matt Stajan scored third-period goals and Alexei Ponikarovsky also scored for the Maple Leafs.
Flyers 3, Islanders 1
At Uniondale, N.Y., Danny Briere gave the Flyers a second-period lead before leaving with another injury, and Martin Biron made 35 saves for Philadelphia.
With former Secretary of State Colin Powell on hand for the Veterans Day matinee, Briere staked the Flyers to a 1-0 advantage but didn’t get back on the ice following his fifth goal of the season – all scored in his past four games.
Briere, who has scored in four straight games, made a quick return following abdominal surgery. He said he was “playing it on the cautious side” when he left with a lower body injury, and said it had nothing to do with the surgery.
Mike Richards and Kimmo Timonen also scored for Philadelphia.
Trent Hunter had New York’s only goal.
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