Lemieux Deserves Spotlight : Stanley Cup: Penguin star helps his team beat North Stars, 8-0, for the title and also picks up the MVP honor.

After missing nearly a year of hockey with back pains, back surgery and a back infection, Pittsburgh Penguin center Mario Lemieux was told to avoid heavy lifting.

But Saturday night at Met Center, he had no trouble lifting the gleaming silver Stanley Cup high over his head.

No pain. Just glory.

And with that symbolic act, he also lifted off his shoulders the burden of proving his career is about more than just lofty numbers. Lemieux himself had acknowledged he needed a Stanley Cup championship to prove that he deserved to be mentioned among the game’s greats.

He got it Saturday as the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Minnesota North Stars, 8-0, before a disappointed sellout crowd of 15,378 to win the Stanley Cup finals in six games.

And Lemieux led the way with his 16th postseason goal and three assists to earn him not only his and Pittsburgh’s first Cup, but also the Conn Smythe Trophy as series MVP.

“This means everything,” Lemieux said. “After the back problems and the surgery and infection, I never thought I could come back so strong. This is the ultimate dream.”

It’s a dream shared by so many on the Penguins.

--By General Manager Craig Patrick, who pulled off the crucial March trade that brought Pittsburgh Ulf Samuelsson, Ron Francis and the kind of intimidating defensive play rarely seen in a franchise that had gone 24 years without so much as a division title.

--By Bob Johnson, the 59-year-old coach who, after four decades in the game, achieved his ultimate fantasy just a long slap shot from where he grew up.

--By defenseman Paul Coffey, who struggled through the playoffs, first with a scratched cornea, then a fractured jaw, to finally emerge with his fourth Cup after winning three with the Edmonton Oilers.

--By Tom Barrasso, the goalie who has struggled over the last two years. First and foremost in his mind has been his four-year-old daughter, Ashley, who has been undergoing treatment for cancer. Barrasso has had his share of injuries, taken his share of criticism for his play, and wasn’t even sure he’d be ready for Game 6 after suffering a pulled groin muscle and an ankle injury in Game 5.

“I knew they were going to shoot it up,” he said, referring to the painkiller used on his groin injury, “and I was going to play until it snapped. When the mind tells the muscle to go, it goes.”

Surveying a scene of hysterical joy around him in the Pittsburgh dressing room, Barrasso said, his daughter obviously on his mind: “This is nice, but there are other things in my life that are more important. People who criticize my hockey should wake up and realize there is more to life.”

The Penguins made Barrasso’s task easier by scoring three goals in the first period,continuing a trend they started in Game 4.

Trailing 2-1 in the series, Pittsburgh scored three times in the first period of Game 4, four times in the first period of Game 5 and then started fast again Saturday, winning all three games.

Samuelsson scored the first goal Saturday (third of the playoffs), and he was followed by Lemieux. Also scoring were Joe Mullen (seventh and eighth), Bob Errey (fifth), Francis (seventh), Jim Paek (first) and Larry Murphy (fifth).

The eight goals tied a record for most in a Cup-clinching game, and the score was a record for widest margin of victory in a clincher.

Three factors had enabled the North Stars, owners of the fewest number of victories among all 16 playoff teams, to reach the finals--an effective power play, strong goaltending and the ability to take early leads and shut off the opposition with tight defense.

All three factors were missing in the last three games.

Coach Bob Gainey stuck with his starting goalie, Jon Casey, Saturday and paid for it when Casey was blasted in the first period. Backup Brian Hayward wasn’t any better in the second period, giving up three more goals. Casey came back for the third.

And again, the power play deserted Minnesota.

The North Stars were blanked on three tries Saturday night, making them 0 for 7 in their last two games and two for 14 in the last three.

Pittsburgh had a big night with its special teams, going three for six on the power play and adding a short-handed goal by Lemieux as well.

Thus ends the incredible saga of North Star owner Norm Green, who bought a losing operation last summer that once seemed headed for the Bay Area, struggled through a year of failure at both winning games and attracting fans, and then caught fire in the playoffs, his team skating within sight of the Stanley Cup.

“The bubble burst badly tonight,” he said. “That’s all I can think about. There were no fans and we filled the building. There were no wins and we almost won the Stanley Cup. Tomorrow we will be proud, but tonight we are depressed.”

Stanley Cup Notes

Mario Lemieux’s postseason totals of 16 goals and 28 assists for 44 points are the second best in league history behind the 47 points by Wayne Gretzky with the Edmonton Oilers in 1985. . . . Bob Johnson is the second U.S.-born coach to win the Cup, the first being Bill Stewart with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1938.