As if the Detroit Red Wings didn’t feel at home enough on the road, one fan in Florida heaved an octopus onto the ice after a big goal.
Johan Franzen’s power-play goal early in the third period prompted the eight-armed offering, and the Red Wings went on to beat the Florida Panthers 3-2 on Friday night.
Marian Hossa had the first two goals for the Red Wings, who improved their NHL-best road record to 8-1-1. Niklas Kronwall had two assists.
“I scored my first NHL goal in this building and it just seems like after that it’s been good for me,” Hossa said. “When I come into this building, I try to get so many pucks at the net.”
In other NHL games Friday night, it was: Nashville 4, Anaheim 3 in overtime; Atlanta 3, Carolina 2; Columbus 6, Buffalo 1; Washington 3, New Jersey 1; and St. Louis 4, Chicago 3 in overtime.
Hossa now has 55 points in 45 career games against Florida.
“I was begging him to shoot it the whole game,” Franzen said. “He finally listened.”
ichard Zednik and Stephen Weiss scored for the Panthers, who had won two straight.
“I think our effort was there,” Weiss said. “We battled hard against a real good team. We just couldn’t find a goal in the third when we needed one after they got the quick power-play goal.”
Ty Conklin stopped 25 shots to win a matchup of backup goalies against Craig Anderson.
Anderson, who stopped 68 of 69 shots in Florida’s previous two games, was pulled in favor of regular starter Tomas Vokoun at 1:37 of the second after Hossa’s second goal.
The switch appeared to energize the Panthers, who carried the play the rest of the second period while outshooting Detroit 10-6.
“The reason for the goaltending change wasn’t because of the first goal,” Florida coach Pete DeBoer said. “For us, against a team like Detroit, we have to play almost a perfect game in order for us to get a win, and we didn’t. We changed the goalies to try and give the team a spark and wake them up. It seemed to work, in the second period anyway.”
Predators 4, Ducks 3, OT
At Anaheim, Calif., Defenseman Dan Hamhuis scored 2:17 into overtime for Nashville.
Joel Ward and J.P. Dumont also scored for the Predators, who have won four of 19 games in Anaheim.
rtime win at San Jose on Tuesday night, stopped 32 shots.
Brendan Morrison, Chris Kunitz and Ryan Getzlaf scored for the Ducks. Teemu Selanne had three assists in his 600th game with Anaheim.
Thrashers 3, Hurricanes 2
At Atlanta, Slava Kozlov scored his ninth goal of the season and Atlanta tied a team record with its fifth consecutive win.
Marty Reasoner had his third goal in two games against the Hurricanes and the Thrashers improved to 7-7-2 after a dismal start that included six losses in a row.
Johan Hedberg made 27 saves for Atlanta after stopping 35 shots in a 5-2 victory at Carolina on Sunday, and Eric Perrin scored his first goal of the season for the Thrashers.
Tuomo Ruutu and Rod Brind’Amour had power-play goals for the Hurricanes (8-7-2).
Blue Jackets 6, Sabres 1
At Buffalo, N.Y., Pascal Leclaire made 36 saves in his return from an ankle injury and R.J. Umberger scored twice for Columbus.
Leclaire, activated off injured reserve Wednesday after missing seven games, made his first appearance since leaving in the second period of a 2-1 loss at Minnesota on Oct. 25.
Manny Malhotra had a goal and assist and Michael Peca, rookie Derick Brassard, and Rick Nash also scored for the Blue Jackets.
Capitals 3, Devils 1
ann each scored and Alex Ovechkin added an empty-net goal in the final minute for Washington.
Alexander Semin – the NHL scoring leader entering the game with 27 points – left the game late in the second period with an undisclosed injury. The Capitals said his status is day-to-day.
The Devils (7-7-2) have lost four in a row while the Capitals (10-4-2) reached 10 wins faster than any previous team since the 1991-92 squad opened 10-3-0.
Blues 4, Blackhawks 3, OT
At Chicago, Andy McDonald scored his second goal on a power play 2:15 into overtime to lift St. Louis.
With the Blackhawks’ Dave Bolland off the ice for hooking, McDonald fired the winner past Nikolai Khabibulin on a low shot from the right circle.
McDonald, David Perron and Cam Paddock scored in the first period for the Blues, who ended a six-game winless slide (0-5-1).
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