Only this time, they were playing against each other.

Forward Kris Draper was still with the Wings. But goaltender Chris Osgood was with the New York Islanders. And wouldn't you know it? Draper scored two goals in a game for only the second time in more than three seasons, as the Wings beat Osgood and the Islanders, 2-1, and improved to 12-2.

"I told (Draper) I'd never talk to him again if he scored on my husband," Jenna Osgood said. "It's going to be a long time now."

The wives laughed.

This is a friendship bigger than any game, and they knew what would come next: nothing but a lot of locker-room banter, back and forth, between buddies.

Draper: "It was two good friends just going out and having fun, playing a fun hockey game. We'll laugh about it. For sure we will."

Osgood: "I'll get a good laugh with Drapes someday. But I'll get him back. You put that in the paper: I'll get him back one day."

Osgood: "He was laughing a couple of times. But I was laughing, too, when he fumbled a breakaway" in the third period.

Draper: "I definitely would love to have that one back. Lucky for him, or we would be talking about three goals, not two."

Osgood: "Our wives are sitting together. They took the kids out to Halloween the other night. Then he does that to me."

Osgood already had faced the Wings, losing on Long Island, 5-4, Oct. 13. In overtime, Draper broke away on Osgood. But he passed off. Brett Hull then dropped the puck back to Steve Yzerman, who scored the winner.

"(Draper) was taking it easy on him," Julie Draper said.

Maybe so.

But Draper and Osgood have talked frequently on the phone since Sept. 28, when the Islanders took Osgood in the waiver draft. The Wings left Osgood unprotected -- although he had won 389 games for them, second only to Hall of Famer Terry Sawchuk -- because they had acquired superstar Dominik Hasek.

In one (or more of) those conversations, Osgood ribbed Draper.

Big-time.

"Oh, I heard about it," Draper said, smiling.

Draper wanted another chance at bragging rights. This was what he said Friday morning about the hoopla surrounding Osgood's return to Detroit: "Let's get it out of the way, then fill the net on him."

The Islanders took a 1-0 lead 1:05 into the first period. Forward Mark Parrish, the NHL's surprising goal-scoring leader, made a sweet move by hopping around defenseman Maxim Kuznetsov. Then he avoided defenseman Chris Chelios and sent the puck in front for center Shawn Bates, who tipped it in.

But then Draper scored shorthanded at 16:06. He stole the puck in the neutral zone, raced down the right wing and snapped a shot. Osgood got a piece of it with his blocker, but not enough. It dropped across the goal line.

The fans used to chant, "OZ-ZIE! OZ-ZIE!"

Now they taunted, "OS-GOOOD! OS-GOOOD!"

"Before the game, because he had faced him so much in practice, (Draper) was thinking about a new strategy," Julie Draper said. "He must have found a new hole that Ozzie didn't know he knew about."

Draper scored his second goal 9:19 into the second period. Deep in the corner to Osgood's right, Kuznetsov threw the puck in front. While holding off center Michael Peca, holding his stick with one hand, Draper tipped the puck past his buddy.

Again, "OS-GOOOD! OS-GOOOD!"

"After the first goal, (Draper) was laughing the whole time; my Chris was mad," Jenna Osgood said. "After the second goal, my Chris was really mad."

The wives laughed again.

"After the game," Julie Draper said, "they'll be on their cell phones, laughing about this."

That's certainly what Kris Draper was planning on.

"Sure I'm calling him," Draper said. "Hopefully he answers."

Draper smiled.

"He's a good sport," he said. "I'm sure he will."

Osgood sounded as if he would.

"It's all in fun," he said. "We were laughing about it on the ice."

Pause.

"It's kind of ironic," he said, "isn't it?"