Unbeaten With Lemieux, Penguins Defeat Capitals

Three games into his comeback, Mario Lemieux has already seen virtually every defensive gimmick possible--lots of checking, the neutral-zone trap, defensemen who shadow him and try to put a stick on him.

What he still hasn’t seen is a defense that works.

Jaromir Jagr scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and set up Pittsburgh’s first two goals Wednesday night as the Penguins stayed unbeaten since Lemieux’s return, defeating the Washington Capitals, 3-2, at Pittsburgh.

Jagr’s three-point night--he assisted on goals by Lemieux and linemate Jan Hrdina--gave him five goals and five assists in the three games since Lemieux returned from a 3 1/2-year retirement.

Lemieux scored a power-play goal at 6:35 of the first period on a pass from Jagr, then set up Jagr’s 24th goal at 11:53 of the third. Lemieux has three goals and six assists as the Penguins have gone 3-0 since his return a week ago.

“I didn’t expect to play this well,” Lemieux said, “but I’m not surprised because I expected to play at a high level.”

The Capitals were more physical than the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators were in Lemieux’s first two games, going out of their way to hit Lemieux whenever possible.

“You can’t afford to be sitting back and watching him,” Steve Konowalchuk said. “I thought we did a pretty good job, but we didn’t win the game. We believe we’re good enough that we should win this game. We believe we can beat them.”

Toronto 1, Buffalo 1--Jonas Hoglund scored with 2:44 to play in the third period to lift the Maple Leafs to a tie at Toronto.

Columbus 5, Edmonton 2--Five players scored and Marc Denis, 4-1 in his last five starts at Nationwide Arena, made 30 saves for the Blue Jackets at Columbus, Ohio.

Carolina 3, Tampa Bay 2--Ron Francis and Kevin Hatcher scored in the opening 8 1/2 minutes and Artrus Irbe stopped 36 shots for the Hurricanes at Raleigh, N.C.

Atlanta 1, Minnesota 1--Defenseman Curtis Leschyshyn scored his first goal of the season for the Wild only 2:25 into the game and Donald Audette pulled the Thrashers even a little more than two minutes later at St. Paul, Minn.

Calgary 1, San Jose 0--Fred Brathwaite stopped 30 shots and Cory Stillman scored at San Jose.

Chicago 6, Vancouver 0--Jocelyn Thibault stopped 27 shots for his third shutout of the season and Michael Nylander had two goals and two assists for the Blackhawks at Chicago.

Around the League

The Pittsburgh Penguins will retire the late Michel Briere’s No. 21--a number that hasn’t been assigned to another player since his death nearly 30 years ago--before Friday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens at Mellon Arena. Briere had 44 points in 76 regular-season games and eight in 10 playoff games in his only NHL season in 1970-71 before suffering fatal head injuries in a car crash outside of Montreal in May 1971. . . . The NHL has rescheduled Sunday’s game between the Phoenix Coyotes and New Jersey Devils to Wednesday to avoid a conflict with the NFL playoff game between the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles. . . . Defenseman Adam Burt of the Atlanta Thrashers will undergo surgery for a herniated disk in his lower back and will be sidelined at least six weeks. . . . Left wing Pavol Demitra of the St. Louis Blues reported improved vision in his injured right eye, although he remains sidelined indefinitely.