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PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Pittsburgh Penguins almost wanted Mario
Lemieux to take the night off and rest his sore back. Good thing for them he didn't.
|  | | It was a scramble all night for Florida's Anders Eriksson and Pittsburgh's Darius Kasparaitus, and their teams. |
Lemieux, not expected to play, scored a power-play goal 2:10 in
overtime and the Penguins rallied after squandering a two-goal lead
in the third period to beat Florida 3-2 Wednesday night.
The goal kept Lemieux from going without a point for three
consecutive games for only the second time in his career. The first
time came in March 1997, several months before he retired.
Lemieux played despite hinting strongly Tuesday he might sit out because of the recurring back pain that has troubled him since he injured himself in practice Feb. 9. He missed nearly 150 games because of back pain during his first 12 NHL seasons.
"The back was pretty much the same," said Lemieux, who was averaging more than 25 minutes a game recently despite the sore back. "We got the (ice) time down to about six or seven minutes a period, where we wanted it to be."
Lemieux skipped the pregame skate Wednesday, and decided to play
only after receiving therapy and back massage for most of the afternoon.
"The best thing for him probably would have been to stay off
and rest, but this shows his drive and passion," defenseman Bob
Boughner said. "It was tremendous for our team."
The Panthers didn't manage a shot until nearly 22 minutes into
the game and trailed 2-0 when Alexei Kovalev scored at 5:24 of the
third, only to tie it on goals by Pavel Bure and Viktor Kozlov.
But the Penguins -- 1-for-32 on the power play against Florida
dating to last season _ got a chance to win it when Florida's
Vaclav Prospal was called for cross-checking Darius Kasparaitis at
1:43 of overtime.
Lemieux, who had gone scoreless in three of his previous five
games, scored on the 4-on-3 by powering Martin Straka's pass past
Roberto Luongo from the left circle dot.
The goal was Lemieux's 21st in 24 comeback games and ended Florida's four-game winning streak.
Florida coach Duane Sutter was upset with the officiating, especially the overtime penalty.
"Straka dove two or three times with no call. Lemieux dove on the penalty in the third period. Hey, if it can work for Lemieux, it can work for anybody," Sutter said.
"There's too many double standards. Lemieux hits (Lance) Ward
from behind and it's no penalty, he wrapped his arm around him and
brought him down. If Ward was doing that to Lemieux, it's an
automatic penalty."
Luongo turned aside 30 of 33 shots and kept the Panthers in the
game with several excellent saves down the stretch, including a
sprawling save on Kevin Stevens with four minutes remaining.
Still, Luongo, who stopped 233 of the last 245 shots he faced
going in, allowed more than two goals in a game for only the second
time since Jan. 19.
Bure got the Panthers back into the game by scoring his
NHL-leading 40th of the season at 9:52 of the third, one-timing
Bret Hedican's cross-ice pass by Jean-Sebastien Aubin from the
right circle.
Bure's goal was his ninth in five games and 17th in 13 games,
coming on only the Panthers' 14th shot. They were held without a
shot until Aubin closed his pads to stop Mike Sillinger's shot at
1:48 of the second.
Kozlov tied it at 13:17 of the third following a Penguins
giveaway in their own end, taking Lance Ward's pass to sweep a shot
under Aubin's stick as he skated through the crease.
Pittsburgh opened a 1-0 lead when Jaromir Jagr ended a six-game
streak without a goal with his 32nd of the season at 7:47 of the
first.
The Panthers' shot-free first period was the first by a visiting
team in Pittsburgh since the Penguins joined the NHL in 1967 but,
remarkably, was Florida's second in a row against Pittsburgh.
The Panthers also didn't manage a shot on goal in the third
period of a 2-2 home tie against Pittsburgh on Dec. 20. Until then,
the Penguins had never held a team without a shot in a period in
their history.
Game notes
The Penguins were coming off a 5-1 loss Monday to Colorado.
... Florida is 1-10-1 against the Atlantic Division. ...
Coincidentally, ESPN's ratings for its first month of telecasts
with Lemieux was .66 -- matching his number. ... Pittsburgh was
1-for-25 on the power play overall until Lemieux scored. ... The
Penguins lost defensemen Marc Bergevin (strained knee) and Hans
Jonsson (strained shoulder) with injuries. Both will be evaluated
Thursday.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Florida Clubhouse
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
RECAPS
Carolina 6
Atlanta 3
Pittsburgh 3
Florida 2
Washington 2
Nashville 1
Vancouver 2
Montreal 1
Detroit 7
Chicago 3
Dallas 6
Minnesota 2
Phoenix 3
Columbus 2
Colorado 8
Boston 2
Anaheim 1
San Jose 0
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Mario Lemieux slams in the one-timer for the Penguins overtime victory.
avi: 1545 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Jaromir Jagr catches Roberto Luongo out of the net with the first period goal.
avi: 1643 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Pavel Bure's slapshot gets the Panthers on the board in the third.
avi: 809 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Viktor Kozlov uses every part of his body to get the puck in the right position for the game-tying goal.
avi: 1340 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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