Hossa injured while Richards sets record

It took about five minutes for Brad Richards to make an impact with the Dallas Stars in his first game. The Pittsburgh Penguins will have to wait a while before seeing one from Marian Hossa.

While Richards was helping the Stars beat the Chicago Blackhawks 7-4, Hossa's debut with his new club was cut short after injuring his knee in Pittsburgh's 5-1 loss to the Boston Bruins.

Hossa, perhaps the biggest name to be moved at Tuesday's trade deadline, didn't play in the third period and finished with one shot on goal in 10:13. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Hossa suffered a sprained right MCL and will miss at least one week.

"It is disappointing," Hossa said, assessing his injury to an accidental knee-to-knee collision with Boston forward Glen Murray in the second period. "Injuries happen. It's just tough luck."

Pascal Dupuis, acquired by the Penguins with Hossa from the Atlanta Thrashers, also made his debut and helped Pittsburgh avoid being blanked.

Richards' first point with Dallas can only described as pretty. A cross-ice pass from Niklas Hagman at the top of the circles looked like it would be one-timed by Antti Miettinen. Instead he let the puck go between his legs to Richards, who fired a pass to back to Hagman for a tip-in just inside the far post.

That was the first of Hagman's three goals - and Richards' career-high five assists, tying the franchise record shared by Murray Oliver (1971) and Larry Murphy (1989).

"I'm so happy to be a part of this," said Richards, acquired Tuesday from the Tampa Bay Lightning, which has the worst record in the East. "They've got a good thing going here. I went from looking like I'd be done the first of April to making a good run at (the Stanley Cup)."

Andrew Ladd had his first goal in his second game with the Blackhawks after being acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes for Tuomo Ruutu at the deadline.

THREE STARS OF THE NIGHT, FEB. 28

1. Hagman, Dallas Stars: No one is happier than this guy to have Richards on his line. Hagman had his first three-goal game in the NHL during the Stars' win over the Blackhawks.

2. Marco Sturm, Boston Bruins: Sturm had two goals - including the 200th of his career - in the Bruins' 5-1 win over the Penguins. Your useless factoid of the night: Sturm is the third German-born player with 200 goals joining Walt Tkaczuk (227) and Dany Heatley of the Ottawa Senators (210).

3. Ilya Bryzgalov, Phoenix Coyotes: Bryzgalov stopped 41 shots - 26 over the final two periods - in a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Blues. It was the Coyotes' fourth straight win over the Blues and sixth in a row at the Scottrade Center.