Lemieux Called Ready to Return Tonight

Mario Lemieux will play tonight against the Flyers at Philadelphia if there are no complications earlier in the day from his final radiation treatment for Hodgkin’s disease, the Pittsburgh Penguins said Monday.

Lemieux will undergo the last of two low-dose radiation procedures at a Pittsburgh hospital, then fly to Philadelphia hours before the game. He completed four weeks of full-dose therapy last Friday.

The NHL scoring leader until a week ago, Lemieux has not played since Jan. 2, six days before learning he had cancer in one lymph node. Lemieux had sat out two games because of a chronic back problem before the Hodgkin’s disease was diagnosed.

Lemieux, 27, apparently has had few of the normal side effects--fatigue, nausea and loss of appetite--of radiation. He resumed skating a week after starting his therapy and has practiced as many as four times a week.

The Penguins were 9-5-1 in their first 15 games without Lemieux, then went 1-5-1 during a stretch that ended with Sunday’s 4-2 victory at Washington.