Penguins, Lemieux Stick It to North Stars : Stanley Cup finals: Pittsburgh star scores backhanded goal in second period of 4-1 victory that evens the series at 1-1.

At first there was silence in sold-out Civic Arena Friday night after Mario Lemieux had backhanded the puck into the net.

Stunned silence.

Perhaps those in attendance needed validation from a neighboring seat that they had indeed seen a goal to recapture for the grandkids.

Perhaps it took several seconds to soak in the significance of the moment.

Or perhaps they just wanted to savor the instant the 1991 Stanley Cup finals took a decided turn.

That’s not to say there won’t be many more twists before this best-of-seven series has run its course. But for now, Lemieux has carried his Pittsburgh Penguins back into the finals on his once-ailing back with an electrifying second-period goal that broke Game 2 open and led to a 4-1 victory over the Minnesota North Stars.

That evens the series, at 1-1, with Game 3 scheduled for Sunday night in Minnesota.

The Penguins needed an emotional lift Friday, knowing they had already lost the series opener and were looking at the next two games in Minnesota where the North Stars have proven nearly unbeatable in the postseason.

Pittsburgh got that lift, not only from the stick of Lemieux, but from the heart of Paul Coffey and the glove of goalie Tom Barrasso, who stopped 39 of 40 shots.

Coffey, out 10 games with a broken jaw, made a dramatic return. Wearing a full mask to protect the jaw, which has not completely healed, the veteran defenseman only played on the power-play unit.

“That was a big lift,” said Lemieux of Coffey’s return. “Anytime you can get a Paul Coffey out there, he cannot only help you on the ice, but he can help in the dressing room as well.”

Now in his 11th season, Coffey roamed the Pittsburgh dressing room before the game and during the intermissions, providing a calming influence to the younger players.

Yet despite Lemieux and Coffey, it was still a tight game well into the second period.

Pittsburgh had scored two first-period goals, both on special teams. Bob Errey got a short-handed goal for his fourth goal of the postseason and Kevin Stevens got the first of two he would score Friday on a power play.

In a twist, desertion of their vaunted power play kept the North Stars from breaking the game open early.

The power play got Minnesota this far. The North Stars entered the finals having scored 32 of their 65 postseason goals on power plays. But they were 0 for 5 in that category in Game 1 and were blanked on four tries in the opening period Friday.

Mike Modano scored Minnesota’s only goal Friday night on a power play in the second period, the only time the North Stars would be successful in Game 2 on nine power-play attempts.

The score remained 2-1 until The Goal.

It came at the 15:04 mark of the second period off a feed from Phil Bourque around the Pittsburgh blue line. Mark Recchi had been knocked down, leaving Lemieux operating on a delayed penalty.

He streaked across the ice, accelerated as few have ever been able to do and found two Minnesota defenders in his path.

First, he blew past Neil Wilkinson. That left Shawn Chambers.

“I had tried to go outside before and he (Chambers) had caught up to me,” Lemieux said. “So this time, I acted like I was going to try again, but, instead, went inside.”

Chambers took the fake, looking as if he were standing in quicksand as the 6-foot-4, 210-pound Lemieux swept by him.

Now goalie Jon Casey, the North Stars’ last hope, came out to challenge. Lemieux slid into Casey as if he were a catcher guarding home plate. But as the two collided, Lemieux maintained enough control of his stick to backhand the puck in.

When they finally recovered, the 16,164 fans cheered wildly.

Stanley Cup Notes

Edmonton businessman Bill Comrie and Howard Baldwin, who has been involved with several other NHL clubs, are talking to Penguin officials about buying the team. There have been rumors for months of a possible sale by the DeBartolo family, owners of the club. If a sale, prompted by a DeBartolo need for cash, should come, look for it soon after the finals end. Thus far, the Penguin organization has refused comment on all speculation, but it is believed the asking price is between $60 million and $70 million.