DETROIT, Michigan -- Marian Hossa scored two goals and Chris Osgood made 24 stops to lead the Detroit Red Wings to a 3-1 win over the visiting New Jersey Devils Saturday night.
Hossa's first goal came just 3:30 into the game, disproving the idea that the Red Wings might need time to get their legs back after five days of rest following a ten-day West Coast road trip.
Former Devil Brian Rafalski shot the puck in off the end boards behind goalie Kevin Weekes. Hossa jumped on the puck and put a quick shot to the near side off of Weekes and in.
New Jersey tied the game at 4:15 of the second period when Zach Parise tipped a shot by Johnny Oduya past Osgood.
Hossa scored his second of the night with 9:19 left in the middle frame, breaking into the New Jersey zone on a two-on-one with Tomas Holmstrom. Hossa faked a pass across and then snapped a shot between Weekes' pads to put the Wings back up by a goal.
Osgood was called on to preserve the lead with three minutes remaining in the period and the Devils on the power play. Patrik Elias drove to the net to deflect a Jamie Langenbrunner chance but Osgood dove across the crease, knocking the puck out of the air and grabbing it before it could cross the goal line.
Kirk Maltby added an insurance marker for Detroit, scoring his first of the season at 4:11 of the third period.
Notes: The Devils lost forward Brian Gionta with just over seven minutes remaining in the second period. Gionta moved to hit Detroit defenseman Derek Meech but Meech braced himself and put a shoulder into Gionta, who went down, hitting his head on the boards.
Early fight between McCarty and David Clarkson. Long fight, held on for a long time, nice to see the linesmen not jumping in early. I give Mac the decision in that one.
Hossa sneaks one in! Really bad goal for Weekes to give up and Rafalski gets the assist against his former team.
Awful power play by Detroit. Only seems fair since it was an awful call to give them the five-on-three.
Just missed the first period. Looks like I missed a good period, not to mention one hell of a fight. But the second period's started now.
I wouldn't call it a soft goal, there wasn't much Osgood could do. But there should have been better D.
Ken and Mickey keep talking about long fights, how are they forgetting Downey's fight in Columbus last year?
And Hossa with his 2nd of the game.
I meant soft goal not in terms of the shot, I'm not sure how to explain it.
Joke of a hooking call on Hossa. That's like if I dive into your elbow and you get called for elbowing.
Ridiculously boring game but good to see some overall solid defense by the Wings. Really solid goaltending from Osgood.
It's great to see Hossa living up to his expectations. I read around some hockey blogs a while back and I caught some guy saying "Hossa will not have a career year, he will not be in the top 10 for points, and Detroit will not win the Cup". That guy looks to be pretty damn wrong right about now, as Hossa is on pace for 50 goals, 57 assists, and +57. If that's not a good season outlook then I dont know what is. Hopefully something can be done to keep this guy around long-term.
Marian Hossa
Credit: Clark Rasmussen
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