Two of hockey's biggest stars won't play again in the regular season this year.
For the Pittsburgh Penguins, the first game without Mario Lemieux was successful. For the New York Rangers, nothing went right without Mark Messier.
Michal Rozsival scored in overtime after Alexei Morozov jammed in a loose puck with 31.2 seconds left in regulation as Pittsburgh rallied to beat Columbus 4-3.
The Penguins made a dramatic turnaround after spending most of the night as though they were looking for injured Lemieux. The team's owner-star player said earlier Thursday he would not be returning for the Penguins this season due to chronic pain from a hip injury.
"We've played a lot of the season without him," Pittsburgh coach Rick Kehoe said. "For some guys, they've adjusted. For other guys, they're still looking at him as being the guy who's going to save us."
Kehoe said management decided not to tell the team about Lemieux's announcement until after the game at Columbus.
The Rangers all knew that Messier would undergo shoulder surgery and be out from six weeks to three months. If he heals quickly, he could be back in the lineup for the playoffs.
Of course, if the Rangers perform as they did Thursday in a 3-0 loss to Ottawa, they won't be skating in the postseason.
Patrick Lalime stopped 34 shots, few of them challenging, for his second shutout of the season and Radek Bonk scored twice.
STARS 4, CANUCKS 3 (OT): Mike Modano scored a power-play goal with less than a second left in overtime at Vancouver.
With Ed Jovanovski in the penalty box for boarding, Dan Cloutier stopped Joe Nieuwendyk from close range after a scramble in front of the Vancouver net. Modano stuffed home the rebound just before time expired.
John MacLean, playing his second game since signing with Dallas as a free agent three days ago, scored twice.
AVALANCHE 2, COYOTES 1 (OT): Chris Drury scored 3:15 into overtime, and Joe Sakic had two assists for Colorado.
After solid performances from both goalies, Drury tipped in a rebound of a shot by Sakic.
Patrick Roy, who kept the Avalanche in the game as his teammates played sluggishly, finished with 32 saves, and Sean Burke had 25 for Phoenix.
PREDATORS 3, OILERS 2: Martin Erat scored with less than two minutes remaining as Nashville rallied at Edmonton.
Erat took a loose puck after a scramble in the Oilers' zone and sent a shot over outstretched goalie Tommy Salo.
FLAMES 3, BLUES 2: Jeff Shantz and Petr Buzek each scored their first goal in more than a year. Shantz, Buzek and Derek Morris scored in the second period as the Flames built a 3-0 lead after 40 minutes, then held off a St. Louis rally.
Jarome Iginla added two assists for the host Flames
SHARKS 5, CAPITALS 2: Alex Korolyuk scored the tie-breaking goal to spark a three-goal second period as visiting San Jose won its seventh straight.
Korolyuk, Adam Graves, Owen Nolan, Scott Thornton and Vincent Damphousse scored a goal apiece for the Sharks, who last lost on Jan. 29 at Toronto.
HURRICANES 6, BRUINS 2: Ron Francis scored a goal and added three assists, and Carolina won for just the third time in the last 14 games. Francis has made Boston his most frequent victim with 28 goals and 99 assists in 118 career games against the Bruins.