Vanbiesbrouck Turns Back Penguins

They aren’t Jaromir Jagr or Mario Lemieux . . . name guys.

Well, one name guy. John Vanbiesbrouck has become quite a name in the playoffs for the Florida Panthers, and his name got even bigger Saturday night in the opening game of the Eastern Conference finals.

Vanbiesbrouck turned away 32 of 33 shots in beating the Pittsburgh Penguins for the first time in six playoff tries. Tom Fitzgerald scored twice in the Panthers’ 5-1 victory.

Dave Lowry also scored twice, once on a power play with 1:52 gone to give Florida a 1-0 lead and later for a 4-1 advantage in the series that continues Monday in Pittsburgh.

“We have a lot of heroes every night,” Fitzgerald said. “A different guy comes up every night. That’s what the Florida Panthers are all about.”

The third-year franchise is also all about defense. The Penguins failed to get a goal from either Lemieux or Jagr for the first time in 12 playoff games and only the fourth time all season.

Vanbiesbrouck stopped Lemieux twice on point-blank shots, once on a short-handed breakaway.

“Johnny had to make huge saves because they got some room in situations with some of the stars they have,” Panther Coach Doug MacLean said. “They’ve got lots of talent and depth.”

Lowry’s early goal helped supply momentum that allowed Vanbiesbrouck to constantly turn aside the Penguins’ platoon of big-name scorers.

“The first goal really set us back,” Pittsburgh Coach Eddie Johnston said. “We talked about the importance of scoring the first goal after being off a week. If we score that first goal, I think we’re in good shape.”

Lowry added his ninth of the playoffs--he had only 10 during the season--at 15:41 of the third period.

The Penguins are 6-10 in playoff openers since 1991, but won seven of the previous nine series in which they lost the opener.