Super Test in Store for Penalty Killers

Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux makes his first appearance in the Arrowhead Pond since 1996, when the Penguins play the Ducks tonight. That gives the Mighty Ducks a formidable task.

Lemieux was leading the NHL in scoring with 53 points through Friday’s games. He has gotten at least one point in 13 consecutive games.

“This is going to be fun,” Duck goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere said. “But we can’t just stand around all night and look at him. We have to play our game.”

With Lemieux slicing and dicing opponents, the Penguins have the NHL’s top power play, scoring at an incredible 30% before Saturday’s game.

Lemieux leads the league in power-play assists and is tied for third in power-play goals. The Penguins have three of the top four players in power-play points, with Lemieux, Alexei Kovalev and Dick Tarnstrom.

“We are 93.8% on penalty killing the last five games,” Duck Coach Mike Babcock said. “Of course I say that, and here comes Lemieux.

“We feel pretty good about our power play. We’re at 17% and that’s about half of what Pittsburgh is doing. No one has been able to stop Mario.

“You just have to do what you can. You have to limit his touches and limit his opportunities. That means being disciplined and staying out of the penalty box.”

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Giguere, who is 4-1-1 with a 1.48 goals-against average in his last six games, has his own streak. He has successive shutouts and has not allowed a goal in 140 minutes 15 seconds.

“I don’t not to think about things like that,” Giguere said. “I know I am going to give up goal sometime. I will just focus on making all the saves I can. Let’s just say there is a better chance that Mario will score than me getting the shutout.”

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The Ducks want to send forward Mike Brown to minor league Cincinnati to get more playing time, but first have to place him on waivers, which they did on Friday. Teams have until Tuesday to claim Brown.

Brown, who has been used on the fourth line, has been a healthy scratch the last six games. The Ducks claimed him off waivers from Vancouver at the start of the season.

The Ducks will likely recall rookie forward Alexei Smirnov after the weekend.

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TONIGHT

vs. Pittsburgh, 5 p.m., Ch. 9

Site -- Arrowhead Pond.

Radio -- KPLS (830).

Records -- Ducks 12-9-6-3, Penguins 11-12-3-3.

Record vs. Penguins (2001-02) -- 1-1-0-0.

Update -- Duck defenseman Ruslan Salei went through a full workout during practice Saturday but will not play tonight because of a strained right side. Left wing Martin Straka (strained hamstring) may return tonight for the Penguins.

Tickets -- (877) 945-3946