Red Wings Ice Penguins In OT
It didn't take Sergei Fedorov very long Friday night to show why the NHL's new 4-on-4 overtime format is ideal for players like him.
Fedorov scored 36 seconds into overtime as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Pitttsburgh Penguins 3-2.
"It seems like I have more time to work the puck," Fedorov said after he broke in with a pass from Steve Yzerman, got around defenseman Jiri Slegr and took a shot that dribbled through the legs of goaltender Jean-Sebastien Aubin.
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Jaromir Jagr and German Titov scored for Pittsburgh. Titov scored with 1:46 remaining in regulation to force overtime and Jagr has a point in every game his team (3-8-3) has played this season, the only player in the NHL to do so.
"We worked hard, but we weren't good enough defensively," Titov said. "But it's only 14 games into the season."
Jagr has 14 goals and leads the league with 29 points.
"When you're trying to dig yourself out of a pit like the one we've put ourselves in, this was a good effort, a working man's effort," Penguins coach Kevin Constantine said. "This was a good step for us."
Martin Lapointe and Nicklas Lidstrom also scored for Detroit. Yzerman's assist extended his point streak to six games, but he remained two short of his 600th career goal.
"I knew it was going to come eventually," said Wregget, a former Penguin who lost his three previous starts this season. "I just had to have patience and believe in myself."
Aubin had 19 stops.
Lidstrom, one of the NHL's premier defensemen, looked more like a forward when he scored a shorthanded goal for a 2-1 lead 8:07 into the third.
Lidstrom put on a burst of speed against Penguins forward Alexei Kovalev, made a great move to get around him and fired a shot from the left circle that went over Aubin's left shoulder.
"They had a forward back there. I didn't know that he'd step up like that," Lidstrom said. "When he stepped up, I just tried to get out of the way and get by him."
Titov tied it when, with the Red Wings concentrating on Jagr near the net, he beat Wregget to the stick side to force overtime.
"We didn't fold when they scored," Constantine said. "That's the kind of goal where a team can fold."
Jagr scored 14:12 into the game when he converted a pass from Andrew Ference. Jagr had six shots during the game but never really came close to scoring again.
"I think all five guys played well when he was out there," said Lidstrom, who was on the ice for practically all of Jagr's shifts.
Lapointe scored 1:33 after Jagr's goal with a hard shot from the top of the right circle.
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