Lemieux Has a Relapse

Pittsburgh Penguin owner-captain Mario Lemieux had a recurrence of an irregular heartbeat during a game Friday and didn’t travel to Buffalo for Saturday’s game against the Sabres.

Lemieux, 40, was hospitalized Dec. 7 and diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, a fluttering of the heartbeat that was causing his heart to dramatically speed up at times. The condition can be treated with medication and is not expected to affect his career.

Lemieux played in Friday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Sabres in Pittsburgh after sitting out four games.

On Saturday, Pittsburgh rallied late but lost to the Sabres, 4-3, at Buffalo, N.Y. Martin Biron made 30 saves in winning his 13th start in a row.

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Minnesota 4, Montreal 3 -- Kurtis Foster’s one-timer with a second left on a four-on-three power play and 1:47 remaining in overtime gave the Wild the victory at St. Paul, Minn.

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Nashville 7, Columbus 3 -- Jordin Tootoo had his first goal of the season, and the Predators scored a team-record six times in the second period at home.

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Philadelphia 5, St. Louis 2 -- Mike Knuble and R.J. Umberger each scored twice as the Flyers peppered the Blues’ rookie goalie Jason Bacashihua in his first career start.

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New York Islanders 5, Colorado 4 -- The Islanders matched a season high for offensive output at home, and Chris Campoli’s goal made the difference at Uniondale, N.Y.

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Ottawa 8, Toronto 2 -- Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and Wade Redden each had a goal and two assists for the Senators at home.

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Atlanta 2, Florida 1 -- Ilya Kovalchuk and Jim Slater scored 17 seconds apart in the third period for the Thrashers at home. It was the Panthers’ 13th consecutive road loss.

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Carolina 4, New Jersey 1 -- Chad Larose scored his first NHL goal 1:59 into the third period, and Eric Staal got his 22nd this season 19 seconds later for the Hurricanes at Raleigh, N.C.

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Detroit 6, Tampa Bay 3 -- Chris Osgood made 28 saves, and Pavel Datsyuk had two goals and an assist to help the Red Wings at Tampa, Fla.

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Calgary 3, Boston 0 -- Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 26 shots in his fifth shutout of the season for the Flames at home. The Flames scored on three of their first four shots.

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Edmonton 5, Vancouver 4 -- Mike Peca scored 4:08 into overtime at Vancouver, and the Oilers stopped the Canucks’ four-game win streak.