The Florida Panthers lost No. 1 goalie Reimer early in the first period of their 6-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday when he went into the splits and suffered a lower body injury. That meant backup goalie Harri Sateri had to come in. But because Reimer couldn't return, it also meant the NHL emergency backup goalie plan had to go into effect.

Home teams in the NHL are required to have a goalie on hand with equipment who can serve as an emergency back for either team. The goalies are local players. Dallas rotates four -- Thomas Hodges, Kenny Carroll, Josh Messick and Thomas Speer. Hodges served as Florida's backup after Reimer was injured.

Pretty cool experience for 24-year old local resident Thomas Hodges, who is the emergency goaltender for the Panthers. He is one of four goaltenders that is on call for games should the situation arise for either team. #FLAvsDAL pic.twitter.com/tqtWZKqAqM — Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) January 24, 2018

Hodges, 23, also works with the Allen Americans as an extra goalie and was put in touch with the Stars and Americans through Speer, who previously served as the goalie coach with the Americans.

Hodges was sitting in the stands and had to run to retrieve his equipment, then get down to the Florida locker room and get dressed. He then sat in the tunnel in case Sateri also experienced an injury. Sateri did not, and that was the night for Hodges.

"It was good," said Hodges, who sits by friends in the stands until he is called on. "I think the people around me were more nervous than I was."

Briefly: Jason Dickinson was called up and played in place of injured Martin Hanzal on Tuesday. Hanzal and defensemen Marc Methot are still dealing with lower body injuries.

-- Stars prospect Miro Heiskanen was named to Finland's Olympic men's hockey team Tuesday.

-- Dan Hamhuis played in his 998th regular-season game Tuesday.

-- The last time there were six or more fighting majors in a Stars game was Dec 31, 1993 vs Chicago.