Detroit Fans Give Fedorov Rude Welcome

Maybe Sergei Fedorov and the Detroit Red Wings have settled their differences, but the fans weren’t so forgiving Friday night.

Jeers were much louder than cheers when Fedorov, wearing a Red Wings uniform for the first time in almost nine months, took the ice against the Florida Panthers. He was no factor as the Red Wings beat the Panthers 3-1.

Fedorov ended a long contract dispute Thursday when the Red Wings matched a $38-million, six-year offer sheet from the Carolina Hurricanes. It was his first NHL game since he helped Detroit win 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.

The boos were loud whenever Fedorov played and were even louder the few times he touched the puck.

“It was good to have him back,” Detroit forward Vyacheslav Kozlov said.

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

Fedorov was on the ice for 19 shifts.

“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.”

Elsewhere in the league

Steve Rucchin scored twice and Mikhail Shtalenkov made 26 saves as the Anaheim Mighty Ducks beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-0 in Edmonton.

Jason Marshall and Doug Houda also scored for the Ducks, who moved within two points of San Jose for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Jyrki Lumme scored the tying goal with 3:13 left in the third period as the visiting Vancouver Canucks played to a 4-4 tie with the Calgary Flames.

Obstruction crackdown pleases NHL

The NHL is pleased with its crackdown on obstruction, even though the early result is an increase of nearly 50 percent in power plays and complaints that the extra penalties slow down the game.

“There’s just two ways it can work out, because we’re not backing down,” said Brian Burke, the league’s director of hockey operations. “Either the players will adapt, or we’ll have a parade to the box.”

So far, it’s been more of the latter.

A league spokesman did not return calls seeking statistics on obstruction penalties. But there were 6,388 total power plays called in the 736 games played before the Olympic break, an average of 8.7.

In 15 games Wednesday and Thursday, there were a total of 191 power plays. Those preliminary results - an average of 12.7 per game over two nights - represent a 47 percent increase compared with the first half of the season.

“We’ll see a lot of power plays for a while until guys adjust to the new rules,” said Colorado goalie Patrick Roy, who witnessed 17 manpower advantages Thursday night against Phoenix. “There is no doubt the penalty killing was the key to the game.”

The NHL has tried to crack down on obstruction several times over the past few years in an effort to open up the game. Two years ago, officials were told to call holding away from the play, but they lightened up as the season progressed, and players learned better methods of obstruction.

Last season, the league told its referees to avoid calling marginal penalties, and obstruction calls dropped from an average of 2.7 per game to 1.4. Overall, penalties declined 18 percent while scoring dropped more than a goal per game - from 6.90 to 5.83.