Rookie Per Gustafsson had a goal and two assists as the Florida Panthers remained undefeated with a 6-4 victory over the New York Rangers on Friday night.
New York's Mark Messier scored two goals, one shorthanded, and Wayne Gretzky extended his point streak to 10 games with a goal and an assist as the Rangers nearly erased a four-goal deficit in the third period.But New York fell prey to penalties, as the Panthers scored a team-record five power-play goals against the Rangers.
Florida (6-0-3) led 5-1 with 10 minutes left in the game on goals by Jody Hull, Gustafsson, Robbie Niedermayer, Stu Barnes and Dave Lowry before the Rangers nearly pulled it out. Robert Svhela put the game away for Florida at 16:08.
Blackhawks 2, Red Wings 2
At Detroit, backup goaltenders Jimmy Waite of Chicago and Kevin Hodson of Detroit sparkled in their first starts of the season.
Waite, recalled from Indianapolis earlier Friday, stopped 39 shots and Hodson made 26 saves.
Gary Suter and Eric Daze scored power-play goals 50 seconds apart in the first period for Chicago, now 3-0-1 on the road. Kozlov and Brendan Shanahan scored second-period goals for the Red Wings, who were 3-0-1 in four straight home games with the Islanders, L.A., Dallas and Chicago.