Penguins beat Red Wings 7-6 in OT

DETROIT (AP) — The Pittsburgh Penguins might not miss Marian Hossa after all.

Jordan Staal had a hat trick in the third period and set up Ruslan Fedotenko’s winning goal with 1:11 in overtime, lifting the Penguins to a 7-6 comeback win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night.

“We have a lot of talent on this team and we have good heart,” Staal said.

Hossa chose to sign a one-year deal worth about $71‚Ñ2 million with the Stanley Cup champions and turned down nearly $50 million over seven seasons to stay with the runner-up Penguins, saying he had a better chance to win a title in Detroit.

“There are no hard feelings from this dressing room,” Staal insisted.

Hossa had two assists against his former teammates, and insisted they became merely opponents just five months after playing with them.

“After the puck dropped for the first faceoff, I didn’t even think about it,” Hossa said. “I just tried to focus on my game.”

The Red Wings kept their team together and added Hossa, seemingly giving them a chance to be the NHL’s first repeat champions since Detroit did it a decade ago.

Pittsburgh, meanwhile, lost some key players other than Hossa and its top two defensemen — Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney — are out with injuries.

“They still have a lot of skill up front with good, quick forwards,” Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom said. “And they have young players that are getting better.”

Such as Staal, who turned 20 two months ago.

Detroit’s Jiri Hudler scored midway through the third, seemingly sealing the victory by giving the defending champions a two-goal lead in the Stanley Cup rematch.

“I thought it was going to be over when Hudler scored,” Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “Then we self-destructed.”

Staal’s second goal with 4:09 left pulled Pittsburgh within one, then he forced overtime by scoring with 23 seconds left on a rebound off Lidstrom.

“It seemed like everything I touched went in,” said Staal, who had just two goals in his first 14 games thanks in part to some poor luck with the puck.

Staal set up the overtime goal by lifting Pavel Datsyuk’s stick from behind, snagging the puck away and setting up Fedotenko’s one-timer with a perfect pass to the right circle.

Hossa wasn’t surprised to see Staal perform better than any of the stars on the ice.

“He’s always in the shadow, but he’s a good player — maybe underrated,” Hossa said. “He plays with power and takes the puck well to the net.”

Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury and Detroit’s Chris Osgood both faced 34 shots.