Lemieux Indulges Crowd Despite Canadien Victory

Lemieux Indulges Crowd Despite Canadien Victory
By Chris Foreman, Correspondent

Editor's Note: This is an example of the type of stories and features that you can read daily on the new LCS Guide to Hockey on America Online.
"Some say that no one ever leaves Montreal, for that city, like Canada itself, is designed to preserve the past, a past that happened somewhere else."
The quotation from Canadian poet and novelist Leonard Cohen predated the birth of Mario Lemieux by two years, however, is easily applicable to the Pittsburgh Penguin.
Thirteen professional seasons, all of which south of the border with Pittsburgh, following Lemieux's three-year domination of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for Laval, he is still a revered legend.
Nobody can remove Montreal from Lemieux, as it is his birthplace and the home of his immediate family. Nor can anyone supplant Lemieux from Montreal, as spectators left wanting more from "Le Magnifique.".
And in what could turn out to be his finale in Montreal, the home-grown product appeased the locales scoring two third-period goals within 3:09 to the delight of most of the 21,273 in attendance at the Molson Centre in a performance as hallowed as its location. Perhaps only a change in setting to the Montreal Forum could have made the evening any more special.
Mired in perhaps his worst-ever "slump," Lemieux scored his first goal in eight games at 15:59 in the final frame in typical fashion.
After procuring the puck in his own end, Lemieux rushed forward toward the Montreal zone. He dished the disc off to Ron Francis who wasted very little time in reuniting Lemieux with the puck again just ahead of the Canadiens' blue line. Lemieux proceeded to breeze past Montreal forward Stephane Richer and barreled in on goaltender Jocelyn Thibault.
One backhand fake and one forehand deke later, Lemieux backhanded the puck along the ice behind a helpless Thibault. The Quebecois, in awe of his impeccable skating in which he can lean from one side to the other with extraordinary balance, stood in unison in approval of his 45th tally on the campaign.
Lemieux again placated the appetites of those desiring more with a power-play lamp-lighter with 52 seconds remaining. Diligent and incessant work resulted in his second goal, as Lemieux concluded the man-advantage with a one-timer from the slot on a setup from the right face-off circle from Francis. Lemieux directed the puck to the top, right-hand corner of the net above a kneeling Thibault, who dropped into his butterfly position. A second standing ovation ensued.
The entire night was a grand exhibition from Lemieux, who received very little assistance from anyone else in black. His precision in finding teammates was such that he could have found Waldo or Jimmy Hoffa.
Nevertheless, while memories of a spirited effort by Lemieux may live longer, the current implications of Montreal's March 26, 8-5 victory stand out in significance for the Canadiens. They captured sole possession of seventh place in the Eastern Conference as Washington fell to Chicago. They lead the Capitals by two points, with each having played 75 games, and Tampa Bay by five points (Lightning has played 73 games).
The loss marked Pittsburgh's third straight, and lowered their road record to 13-22-3. Four points now separate the New York Rangers from the Penguins, with each having eight contests remaining on the agenda.
Shayne Corson staked Montreal to an early 1-0 lead only 1:08 into the game as Pittsburgh was in the midst on a line change. Chris Tamer weakly attempted to hipcheck Corson, who just skated by the hurting Penguins' defenseman and snapped a wristshot to beat Patrick Lalime for his sixth goal. Mark Recchi received the lone assist.
Turner Stevenson found the twine again on Montreal's second shot of the game, finishing the hard work by linemate Scott Thornton. Thornton victimized Tamer again, faking, then skating around him as he emerged from the boards to the right of Lalime. Stevenson accepted Thornton's tape-to-tape pass just above the goal crease and steered the disc by Lalime for his seventh on the season at 3:10. Darcy Tucker also collected a helper.
Stephane Richer notched his 20th 3:15 later as Neil Wilkinson and Joey Mullen pinched to keep the puck in the Montreal zone at the right point. Benoit Brunet broke out with the puck and passed to Richer on the right wing. Richer held the puck momentarily, then defeated an off-balance Lalime on the glove side. The goal epitomized Lalime's second-half struggles as he failed to challenge Richer and made a halfhearted attempt to stop the puck.
The first frame slaughter continued when Mark Recchi slammed a rebound of a Saku Koivu shot into the net. Lalime kicked the original shot with his left leg pad out to Recchi who backhanded the vulcanized rubber over Lalime for his 32nd at 8:16. Corson picked up the secondary assist.
Penguins Coach and General Manager Craig Patrick yanked Lalime in favor of fellow first-year netminder, Philippe DeRouville following Recchi's tally. Recalled March 19 from Kansas City of the International Hockey League, DeRouville's only previous appearance this season was a loss at Buffalo January 29. Lalime prevented just one of five Canadien shots from scoring.
The change in goal meant little difference to the Canadiens' attack, reminiscent of the early-season offensive machine. Richer popped in his second with 48 seconds to play in the first period. Marc Bureau stole a clearing pass from Tamer and fed a wide-open Richer, who beat DeRouville along the ice under his right leg pad.
Pittsburgh didn't show any signs of life until Darius Kasparaitis awakened teammates and opponents alike with a punishing hit from behind on Koivu. Retribution came in the form of several blows from Shayne Corson behind the Pittsburgh goal line along the boards. Corson received a double minor, two minutes each for high-sticking and roughing. Kasparaitis eluded reprimanding.
After Wilkinson's interference minor expired, Pittsburgh's power play connected twice. Francis cashed in first, beating Thibault to the blocker side for his 23rd at 2:37. Lemieux robbed the Canadiens in their clearing attempt and discovered Francis to the right of Thibault for the goal. Eddie Olczyk also compiled an assist.
Pittsburgh exposed the league's worst penalty-killing unit a second time at 3:29. Francis won the faceoff to the right of Thibault, and Lemieux, on the left point, corralled the puck and skated toward the middle of the ice. With Kevin Hatcher darting from his right point position toward the net, Lemieux threaded the needle and Hatcher poked the disc between Thibault's body and right arm for his 15th.
The Penguins' momentum halted shortly thereafter as Recchi charged in on DeRouville on a breakaway with Hatcher draped all over him. Koivu capitalized on the succeeding power play, scoring along the ice past DeRouville's left leg pad. Koivu secured the puck at the dot in the right face-off circle, a rebound of a Vladimir Malakhov slap shot. Recchi also aided on Koivu's 15th, scored at 8:15.
Lemieux refused to quit, however, setting up his third goal, Jason Woolley's fifth of the year, at 8:50. Francis passed across the ice from the right wing boards to Lemieux on the left, who supplied Woolley with the puck at the high slot. Woolley, who sneaked up from the point, split Thibault's pads with his one-timer.
Montreal added two more before the Lemieux goal show began. Damphousse's 26th goal at 1:47 of the third denoted his 400th point in a Canadiens uniform. Martin Rucinsky dropped the puck off for Damphousse who beat a flopping DeRouville.
Recchi found the net for the second time at 9:13. Flying down the right wing, Recchi deked DeRouville and put a forehand shot between the legs of the Penguins' goaltender. Koivu and Quintal assisted.

Best Game Performances

Pittsburgh: Francis (1-4-5) and Lemieux (2-3-5). Any time you collect five points, it's safe to say you've played a strong game. Patrick reunited the two, with Olczyk on the right side, where Jaromir Jagr played earlier in the season on their "Golden Triangle" line.
Lemieux looked one-hundred percent, despite still suffering from a hip flexor. One game doesn't completely turn anything around, but the Penguins should be encouraged.
Francis has been battling a bad back, but had a strong presence in all facets of play. He partook in faceoffs, something which his bad had prevented him from doing of late.
Montreal: Koivu (1-2-3), Recchi (2-2-4), Richer (2-0-2). The entire offense shined, and the defense was strong with the exception of the penalty-killing unit, which surrendered three goals.
The speed of Koivu, Recchi and Richer frankly exploited the slow, bruised Penguin defense. The forward units of Pittsburgh at times overshadowed the horrible defensive play, which Montreal's speed further deteriorated.
Koivu looks completely healthy, after an early-season knee injury, and Recchi played like a man possessed.

Wacky Game Facts

Pittsburgh is 0-9-1 is its past 10 games. Its last road victory was in a 6-3 win in Montreal Feb. 5, the night after Lemieux scored his 600th career goal. Lemieux hadn't accumulated a point in his three previous games, the longest drought in his career. The goal-less streak, eight games, was also a career-high.

Injury Index

Pittsburgh: No news is good news for the wounded birds. They escaped without any further fatalities than those with which they had at the start of the game. Kasparaitis returned after a three-game hiatus during which time he had been suffering from headaches from a March 18 concussion against Buffalo. The Penguins scratched forwards Josef Beranek (shoulder), Alex Hicks (groin), Jagr (groin), Petr Nedved (wrist), and Garry Valk (ribs) and goaltender Ken Wregget (hamstring). Craig Muni was a healthy scratch. Pittsburgh's health, or lack thereof, at forward forced Patrick to use two defensemen, Francois Leroux and Ian Moran, on the fourth line.
Montreal: Defenseman David Wilkie (healthy scratch) and Patrice Brisebois (shoulder ) sat out. Newly-acquired rearguard Dave Manson served the first of a two-game suspension, a sentence handed down by the National Hockey League for his third instigator penalty of the season March 24 against Boston. The Canadiens dressed only five blueliners.

Lines

Pittsburgh
OFFENSE (LW-C-RW)
Lemieux-Francis-Olczyk
Roche-Barnes-Oksiuta
Dziedzic-Johnson-Christian
Leroux-Moran-Mullen
DEFENSE
Woolley and Olausson
Kasparaitis and Wilkinson
Tamer and Hatcher
Note: Kasparaitis and Hatcher, and Tamer and Wilkinson also played as a pair, mostly during the final two periods.
Montreal
OFFENSE
Corson-Koivu-Recchi
Brunet-Bureau-Richer
Rucinsky-Damphousse-Bure
Thornton-Tucker-Stevenson
Note: Savage was the extra forward.
DEFENSE
Cullimore-Rivet
Quintal-Popovic
Malakhov