NHL ROUNDUP Wednesday’s games

Red Wings 4, Stars 1

DETROIT — Dan Cleary had a goal and an assist to lift Detroit over Dallas in a matchup of the top two teams in the Western Conference. Johan Franzen, Dallas Drake and Pavel Datsyuk also scored for NHL-leading Detroit. Henrik Zetterberg had two assists in his first game back after missing five games with a sore back and Nicklas Lidstrom also assisted on two goals. Chris Osgood made 23 saves. Loui Eriksson got Dallas’ goal and Marty Turco, who is 1-9-5 against the Red Wings, stopped 22 shots.

Devils 3, Panthers 2

NEWARK, N.J. — Jamie Langenbrunner and Noah Clarke scored first-period goals to spark New Jersey. Brian Gionta also scored for the Atlantic Division-leading Devils and Martin Brodeur made 31 saves as New Jersey won for the fourth time in the last five games. The Devils posted their ninth win in the last 10 at home and cooled off one of the NHL’s hottest road teams. The Panthers, who had won seven of the last eight on the road coming in, got goals from David Booth and Jay Bouwmeester.

Thrashers 5, Hurricanes 4, OT

RALEIGH, N.C. — Marian Hossa scored a power-play goal off a feed from Ilya Kovalchuk with 31.5 seconds left in overtime to help Atlanta beat Carolina. Kovalchuk finished with a goal and three assists for the Thrashers, who earned a needed win and pulled within three points of the Southeast Division-leading Hurricanes. Vyacheslav Kozlov, Mark Recchi and Bobby Holik also scored for Atlanta. Ray Whitney, Eric Staal and Erik Cole each had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes, who continued their December slide into 2008.

Oilers 3, Blues 2, OT

ST. LOUIS — Dustin Penner scored his second goal of the game with 17.8 seconds to play in overtime for Edmonton. Penner scored a power-play goal off a rebound from a shot from the point from Jarret Stoll, beating Blues goalie Hannu Toivonen with a wraparound to help the Oilers snap a six-game losing streak. The loss extended St. Louis’ home losing streak to four. The Oilers also got a goal from Tom Gilbert, while David Perron and David Backes scored for St. Louis.

Associated Press