Lemieux’s Comeback Isn’t a Total Success

The Pittsburgh Penguins won’t go undefeated with Mario Lemieux in the lineup after all.

Lemieux scored a goal for the fourth consecutive game since ending his retirement, only to be upstaged by infrequent scorer Eric Weinrich in Montreal’s 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night at Pittsburgh.

Weinrich scored twice--he has three of his four goals against Pittsburgh--and Brian Savage had a goal and two assists as the Canadiens ended the Penguins’ season-high four-game winning streak.

Lemieux had a goal and two assists in his fourth consecutive multiple-point game, giving him four goals and eight assists since ending his 3 1/2-year retirement.

“If you bow down in front of him, like a god, it’s not going to work,” Weinrich said. “He is the best thing to happen to the game, but you have to hit him and stay in his face. The only thing you try to do is keep it clean.”

Minnesota 3, Detroit 2--Filip Kuba scored his second goal with 2:02 remaining in overtime as the Wild defeated the Red Wings at St. Paul, Minn.

Kuba took a pass from Stacy Roest and flipped the puck past sprawling Detroit goalie Chris Osgood to extend the Wild’s unbeaten streak to eight games.

Minnesota’s unbeaten run (5-0-3) is one short of the NHL’s expansion team record, set by Florida in the 1993-94 season.

Philadelphia 6, Atlanta 4--The Flyers scored three goals in the first 2:19 of the game and held on for the victory at Atlanta.

Keith Primeau had two goals for the Flyers, who nearly squandered a 5-0 lead before improving to 6-2-4 since Bill Barber took over as coach for Craig Ramsey.

Boston 1, Washington 1--Kyle McLaren, who missed an open net and screened his goaltender on a goal in the first period, redeemed himself with a tying score with 2:39 to play in helping the Bruins earn a tie at Washington.

Toronto 3, Buffalo 3--Tomas Kaberle tied his career high with three assists and Mats Sundin scored his 14th goal for the Maple Leafs in their tie at Buffalo, N.Y.

Edmonton 2, Chicago 1--Todd Marchant had a short-handed goal and Tom Poti scored on a power play 2:05 later as the Oilers ended a two-game losing slide at Chicago.