Johnston Out, Patrick Back In

With the Pittsburgh Penguins slumping and Mario Lemieux’s influence apparently fading in what he says will be his final season, Eddie Johnston is out again as coach, and General Manager Craig Patrick is in again as his interim replacement.

The Penguins fired Johnston, whom Lemieux had pushed for the job, on Monday, and Patrick will coach the last 20 games and the playoffs. He will try to turn around a team that has lost eight of its last nine games.

“We’ve got a ship that’s off course and listing, and we’ve got to get it back on course,” Patrick said.

Patrick was the Penguins’ interim coach from 1989 to 1990, replacing Gene Ubriaco.

The Penguins (31-26-5) are second to Buffalo in the Northeast Division and fifth overall in the Eastern Conference standings. Johnston, 232-224-60 in 6 1/2 seasons in two separate stints with the Penguins, will work as Patrick’s assistant in the general manager’s office.

*

Avalanche goaltender Patrick Roy was charged with fighting after an altercation with a fellow patron at the Broadmoor Hotel nightclub bar in Colorado Springs early Sunday morning.

Police said that Roy and Kevin Morris, 31, a Colorado Springs computer programmer, were charged, ticketed and released after a dispute over music in the bar. Both face a maximum fine of $500 and 90 days in jail.