Finding a Way to Contain Lemieux Is Next Challenge

The Ducks face Mario Lemieux and the Penguins for the only time this season today at Pittsburgh. Lemieux has nine goals and 19 points in eight games since returning to the ice after ending his 3 1/2-year retirement.

“It’s amazing, unbelievable,” Duck captain Paul Kariya said a day before Lemieux had two goals in the Penguins’ 6-5 loss Saturday to the New York Islanders.

Perhaps the only letdown will be that Kariya won’t be in Pittsburgh today. He has been sidelined since suffering a broken right foot Dec. 17.

“It’s great to turn on ‘SportsCenter’ and see hockey highlights first,” Kariya said. “The league needed a shot in the arm and he’s providing it. He has such phenomenal hands and he sees the game so well. He still can be a two-points-per-game guy.

“It’s a Catch-22. You pressure him and he goes around you. You stay away and he finds other guys. He looks like he’s in better shape than he ever was. People forget that in his last five years he was never healthy. He had to have guys tie his skates because of his back [injury].”

Coach Guy Charron coached against Lemieux in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and said the way to stop him now remains the same.

“He can kill you in so many ways,” Charron said. “Hopefully, he doesn’t have the puck a lot. When he has the puck a lot, he’s dangerous. The key is not letting him have the puck. When you play against a great player, you can’t give them so much respect.

“I coached against him when he was 16 and he was probably as good as he is now. He had to grow up, of course. He’s helping the game now the best way he can.”

TODAY

at Pittsburgh, 11 a.m. PST

Fox Sports Net 2

* Site--Mellon Arena.

* Radio--XTRA (690).

* Records--Ducks 14-22-6-4, Penguins 20-17-6-1.

* Record vs. Penguins (1999-2000)--2-0.

* Update--Guy Hebert is expected to start in goal today because Charron didn’t want to risk denting the confidence of Jean-Sebastien Giguere, 23. Giguere, the goalie in the Ducks’ 4-0 loss Sunday to the Carolina Hurricanes, is scheduled to start Wednesday against the Atlanta Thrashers.