Russians to Get Second Chance to Face Pittsburgh’s Lemeiux

The Pittsburgh Penguins have scheduled a Jan. 4 exhibition game at the Civic Arena against Moscow Dynamo, one of two Russian squads that will play National Hockey League teams during a 10-game tour of the United States and Canada.

To accommodate the exhibition, the Penguins have switched their scheduled Jan. 4 home game against the New York Rangers to Nov. 4.

The Penguins were originally scheduled to play the Red Army, the Soviets’ top team, on Jan. 13, but the Russian teams decided to end their tours Jan. 9. Dynamo is considered the Russians’ second-best team.

“We’re extremely happy to have the Russians coming in,” said Penguins General Manager Eddie Johnston. “They’re bringing in their two top teams and it should generate a lot of excitement.”

The exhibition will rematch second-year Penguins center Mario Lemieux against a Russian team. Lemieux scored two goals for Team Canada in a 3-1 upset of the Soviet national team in the medal round of the World Championships in Prague last spring.

“It would be nice to play the Russians in our building,” Lemieux said. “It would be good experience for the team and we need the publicity.”

“The Russian people are extremely excited about the way Lemieux played,” Johnston said.