Bruins Have a Hat Trick Up Their Sleeve

Mario Lemieux drew the fans to the FleetCenter in Boston. Andrei Kovalenko had them throwing their hats to the ice.

Lemieux had his first two-goal game since ending a 3 1/2-year retirement, but Kovalenko spoiled the Pittsburgh Penguin owner’s night by scoring three times in the third period as the Boston Bruins defeated the Penguins, 5-2, Tuesday night.

The 35-year-old center, playing on consecutive nights for the first time since his return, scored in the first and third periods. He was frustrated and bottled up by the Bruins’ aggressive checking as Boston handed Pittsburgh its second loss in six games with Lemieux in the lineup.

He even got into a shoving match with Bruin defenseman Hal Gill late in the second period.

“The physical part is a part of the game,” Lemieux said testily. “If I didn’t want to get physical, I’d still be up in the owner’s box drinking wine. I’m 6-4, 240. I can handle the physical part.”

That is the area of the game in which the 6-foot-7 Gill thrives. He would have been more than willing to throw down the gloves if it came to that with Lemieux.

“I wouldn’t mind it,” said Gill, who became well known last season when he knocked Eric Lindros down and left him with a concussion. “I’d go to the box to get him off the ice.”

Lemieux has six goals and 16 points--registering at least two in each of his games. He seemed to be one of the few Penguins who was not worn down after a Monday night victory at Washington.

Carolina 7, Florida 3--Glen Wesley, Shane Willis and Rob DiMaio scored in the opening 12:11 at Raleigh, N.C., as the Hurricanes ran their home unbeaten streak to seven games.

Chicago 6, New York Islanders 3--Jaroslav Spacek had a goal and two assists and goalie Jocelyn Thibault had 38 saves for the Blackhawks at Uniondale, N.Y.

Detroit 2, Phoenix 2--Keith Tkachuk scored late in the third period to give the Red Wings a tie at Detroit.

San Jose 2, Buffalo 1--Evgeni Nabokov stopped 22 shots and Niklas Sundstrom scored a short-handed goal for the Sharks at San Jose.

Around the League

Goaltender Ed Belfour was welcomed back to the Dallas Stars, his suspension lifted after a morning meeting with team officials. Belfour met with Coach Ken Hitchcock, General Manager Bob Gainey and assistant general manager Doug Armstrong in Atlanta, where the Stars play the Thrashers tonight. Details of the meeting were not immediately disclosed. It also was not known whether Belfour would be in goal or if backup Marty Turco would get a third consecutive start. Hitchcock’s decision to use Turco on Saturday at Boston triggered a blowup in which Belfour refused to practice, then left the team and flew back to Dallas. He was suspended indefinitely on Sunday, then on Monday night flew to Atlanta. . . . Washington Capital center Jeff Halpern will be sidelined for seven to 10 days because of a pulled groin. . . . Minnesota Wild rookie Maxim Sushinsky was granted his request and will be returned to his club team in his native Russia.