Penguin Fans Want More for the Money : NHL: Critics suggest that Mario Lemieux’s rich contract is the root of his drop in production.

The first seven weeks of the National Hockey League season have been unsettling for Pittsburgh center Mario Lemieux, with critics suggesting that his new $12 million, five-year contract has made him complacent.

Lemieux’s production has fallen alarmingly, his 40-point total putting him second in the NHL and five points behind Wayne Gretzky of Los Angeles.

That’s bad? Well, it is by Lemieux’s standards. After 21 games last year he had 56 points, despite missing two games because of an injured wrist. Lemieux finished the season with 199 points and captured his second straight scoring title.

Concerned by the dropoff--his goal total has tumbled from 22 to 11--and an apparent lack of energy, Lemieux wondered about his physical condition and underwent a battery of tests, which revealed nothing untoward.

About the same time, Lemieux let it be known that he was unhappy with Coach Gene Ubriaco’s decision to tighten up the Penguins’ defensive play.

Lemieux also continually found himself with different wingers as Ubriaco sought a productive combination. So Lemieux said: “It takes time to adapt. Most NHL teams have one or two set lines and then, if they don’t work for a while, they switch.”

Those criticisms were translated in some quarters as a demand to management to trade him or get rid of Ubriaco. Lemieux, who recently moved into a new mansion in Pittsburgh and insists he loves the city, denied such sentiments.

If nothing else, the rumors of trouble woke up the Penguins, who won three straight games for the first time this season before dropping a 6-3 decision to New Jersey on Wednesday night.

Lemieux has recorded at least one point in his last 10 games and he had a goal in five straight until Saturday’s 5-3 victory over the New York Islanders.

Still, things have not turned completely around, and the favored Penguins might have a lot of trouble finishing first in the Patrick Division.

A major problem has been the failure of the Penguins’ special teams. Last season Pittsburgh set an NHL record of 120 power-play goals and connected 21 times while shorthanded. Lemieux had 31 goals and 49 assists with the extra man, as well as 13 shorthanded scores.

This season the Penguins have recorded only 20 power-play goals, three by Lemieux. They rank last in the NHL in penalty killing, allowing 29 extra-man goals in 99 opportunities. They have yet to score shorthanded but have given up a league-leading six shorthanded goals.

Lemieux is not the only player struggling. Rob Brown, a 49-goal scorer last season, has managed only six, ending a three-week drought with a goal Wednesday. Andrew McBain, obtained from Winnipeg in a six-player deal in June, has two goals, after netting 37 last season. Both are right wings, but Ubriaco tried them at center in an effort to escape the doldrums.

Although defenseman Paul Coffey has been flying in the last few games, the Penguins are sadly lacking in overall team speed. Sending Dave McLlwain to Winnipeg and losing Dave Hannan to Toronto in the waiver draft compounded that problem.

With goalie Tom Barrasso (wrist surgery) and defenseman Zarley Zalapski (fractured collarbone) on long-term disability, the Penguins have struggled in their end of the ice. But the New York Rangers and Philadelphia have overcome far greater losses.

Most of the blame for the Penguins’ problems probably should fall on the shoulders of General Manager Tony Esposito. His trades have cost the team speed and defensive ability and his decision to rehire Ubriaco for two years -- after the chaos that typified last season -- has been criticized.

“I know I have to get things rolling,” Esposito said. “We have to win. That’s the bottom line. I’ve been in this business long enough to know we have to turn this around now.”

The three-game winning streak provided some breathing space. But the Penguins cannot afford a relapse. The fans who last year chanted “Sign Mario” could easily be inspired to alter their message to “Espo must go,” so recently effective against his brother, Phil, in New York.

Still Lemieux is the man who ultimately is responsible for getting the Penguins on a winning course. He is the one whose sensational play turned a largely empty Civic Arena (6,839 average in pre-Lemieux 1983-84) to the current virtually automatic sellout of 16,015. And he is the one who is getting the big bucks to keep the puck rolling.

“Hopefully I’m going to be in Pittsburgh a long time ... the rest of my life,” Lemieux said after signing his blockbuster contract. “All I want to do in the next five years is keep improving and build a championship team here.”

Presumably those sentiments still prevail today.