Penguins Cool Off Devils

The extra rest didn’t make the difference for the Pittsburgh Penguins--Mario Lemieux did.

Lemieux ignited a three-goal second period by setting up goals by Aleksey Morozov and Alexei Kovalev in a 2:57 span Tuesday night and the Penguins rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the New Jersey Devils, 4-2.

“There was no way that we were going to shut him down the whole series,” Devil goalie Martin Brodeur said of Lemieux. “It’s almost impossible. This guy is a great player. You have to limit his chances. I thought we did, but that’s what he does. He makes plays that make a difference in a game. The first two goals were all him.”

Well, almost. The Devils gave this one away in enabling the Penguins to even the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals at one game apiece. They built the lead and then stopped playing the tight-checking hockey that made them champions a year ago.

“I think for some reason or another, they wanted to do it their way again,” Coach Larry Robinson said of his team’s latest playoff lapse. “Every time they play their way, we gave up goals.”

Rene Corbet scored the go-ahead goal in the second period, and Robert Lang added another in the third for the Penguins.

Jay Pandolfo and Petr Sykora scored for the Devils, who had an apparent goal by Patrik Elias nullified with 7:52 to play when referee Kevin Pollack lost sight of the puck during a scramble in front of goalie Johan Hedberg.

All-Star defenseman Scott Niedermayer returned to the Devils’ lineup for the first time since Tie Domi of the Toronto Maple Leafs knocked him out with an elbow nearly two weeks ago.