Detroit’s Osgood shuts out Blue Jackets

Tomas Holmstrom scored two power-play goals, and Chris Osgood stopped 26 shots for his 42nd career shutout as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-0 Wednesday night in Columbus, Ohio.

Mark Mowers and Mathieu Schneider also scored for the Western Conference-leading Red Wings, who won their third straight and improved to 5-0 against Columbus this season.

Wild 5, Maple Leafs 3: Marc Chouinard had a pair of goals to lead Minnesota past Toronto in St. Paul, Minn.

Kurtis Foster chipped in a power-play score, and Marian Gaborik and Wes Walz also had goals for the Wild, who improved to 17-0-0 in games when they score four or more.

Thrashers 5, Stars 2: Marian Hossa scored twice, including a power-play goal in the final minute of the second period, as Atlanta rallied in Dallas for its first victory over the Stars.

Atlanta, which scored three straight goals during a span of 7:38 in the second period, had lost the first eight all-time meetings with Dallas.

Penguins’ Palffy retires

Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Ziggy Palffy retired for “personal reasons,” leaving the team without its second leading scorer and creating another question mark in a puzzling, disappointing season.

Palffy had 42 points (11 goals, 31 assists) in 42 games with the Penguins. He had 329 goals and 384 assists in 684 games in 12 NHL seasons with the New York Islanders, the Kings and Penguins, scoring 40 or more goals three times with New York.

“The Florida Panthers traded defenseman Eric Cairns to the Penguins in exchange for a sixth-round pick in this year’s NHL entry draft.

Ovechkin earns right to stay

Washington Capitals rookie Alex Ovechkin learned that he will stay in the league.

A judge ruled in Washington that he cannot be forced to return to Russia to play for his former team, Dynamo Moscow.

Ovechkin leads all rookies with 32 goals and 58 points and will play for the Russian national team at the Turin Olympics.

Dynamo wanted the court to enforce a Russian arbitrator’s ruling that the team still owns the rights to the 20-year-old left wing.