Fedorov Plays, but He’s Not Really Needed

Sergei Fedorov was not a factor in his first NHL game since last year’s playoffs as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Florida Panthers, 3-1, Friday night at Detroit.

Fedorov ended a long contract dispute Thursday when the Red Wings matched a $38-million, six-year offer sheet from the Carolina Hurricanes. He was scoreless in his first NHL game since Detroit clinched the Stanley Cup on June 7.

The former NHL most valuable player did not start, but he was on the ice less than a minute into the game and centered a line with Brendan Shanahan and Doug Brown. There were boos whenever he played in the first period and even louder the few times he touched the puck.

“Every person is entitled to his own opinion,” Fedorov said of the fan reaction. “I’m going to try to win all of them back so they’ll look at Sergei Fedorov at a different angle.”

Fedorov was on the ice for 19 shifts. He was plus-1 and took just one shot.

“I was nervous,” Fedorov said. “I haven’t played in six months in this situation. But after two or three shifts, I got used to it.”

Nicklas Lidstrom, Igor Larionov and Darren McCarty scored the Detroit goals. Shanahan had three assists.

“For a guy who hasn’t played two-thirds of the season, he looked good,” said McCarty, who scored the last goal. “He’ll definitely give us another dimension out there, and it’s great to have him back.”

Ray Whitney scored the Panthers’ goal, spoiling Chris Osgood’s shutout bid with just 2:33 remaining in the game. Osgood made 28 saves.

Vancouver 4, Calgary 4--Jyrki Lumme scored the tying goal with 3:13 left in the third period, enabling the Canucks to tie the Flames at Calgary.

Lumme knocked in the rebound of a slap shot from Pavel Bure that Calgary goaltender Dwayne Roloson couldn’t control. Calgary forward Valeri Bure hit the post and was stopped by goaltender Sean Burke on a point-blank shot in overtime.

NHL Notes

Ottawa defenseman Chris Phillips could be sidelined up to three weeks after being hit in the right eye with a puck during Wednesday’s game against Edmonton. Phillips, 19, received nine stitches when he was hit with a puck off the stick of Oiler defenseman Dan McGillis. The shot also caused bleeding behind Phillips’ eye. . . . The NHL is pleased with its crackdown on obstruction, even though the early result is an increase of nearly 50% in power plays and complaints that the extra penalties slow down the game.