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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
MONTREAL (AP) – While the rest of Montreal welcomed Mario
Lemieux with open arms, the Canadiens gave him the cold shoulder.
Saku Koivu scored twice and assisted on both of Jim Campbell's
goals to ruin Lemieux's homecoming as the Canadiens beat the
Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 on Wednesday night.
|  | | Mario Lemieux, left, got past Montreal's Stephane Robidas and picked up his 21st assist of the season in the second period. |
Lemieux, making his only regular-season Canada appearance in his
native Montreal, set up Krzysztof Oliwa's first goal of the season
16:22 into the second to draw Pittsburgh within 2-1.
Lemieux's first game in his hometown in nearly four years
brought out a huge media contingent, and a sellout crowd of 21,273
to the Molson Centre.
"Obviously they all came to see me and I tried my best to put
on a show," Lemieux said. "I think that's what the fans want to
see. They want to see some good hockey, and handling the puck and
making good plays, and I think we gave them that tonight."
Koivu scored his 10th with 7:11 remaining in the third to
restore the Canadiens' two-goal lead.
Jaromir Jagr scored his 33rd goal with 3:10 left as the Penguins
again closed within one before Koivu added his second of the game
1:03 later. Montreal earned its second win in as many nights
following a six-game losing streak.
"I think they played solid," Lemieux said. "They played solid
last night, obviously, in Philadelphia, and back-to-back games are
not easy. They came in tonight ready to play and they showed a lot
of character."
With the Canadiens likely to miss the playoffs for the third
straight season, Koivu was encouraged by the team's efforts.
"Hopefully this room has enough pride to finish well," Koivu
said. "I think these last two games showed that we have it."
Campbell, who scored both of his goals on the power play, opened
the scoring with just 11 seconds left in the first when he beat
Penguins goalie Jean-Sebastien Aubin to complete a nice passing
play with Oleg Petrov.
Aubin made 36 saves, including one on Canadiens forward Martin
Rucinsky's penalty shot 4:14 into the second, as Montreal held a
39-28 edge in shots.
Lemieux had a chance to tie it on a power play moments later
when he misfired at an open net after taking a pass from Jagr.
"It's not the first one I've missed," Lemieux joked. "It's
not the last one."
That proved costly as Campbell added to the Canadiens' lead with
10:49 gone in the second when he scored his second of the game, and
eighth of the season.
Lemieux earned his 21st assist at 16:22 when he set up Oliwa
from behind the net to make it 2-1.
Game notes
The French-language daily Le Journal de Montreal had a
16-page insert on Lemieux in Wednesday's edition. ... Lemieux, who
extended his point-scoring streak to four games, has at least one
point in all but four of his 27 games. ... Canadiens goalie Jose
Theodore made 26 saves.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
Montreal Clubhouse
Lemieux plans to sit Saturday game against Capitals
RECAPS
Columbus 5
Phoenix 2
Montreal 4
Pittsburgh 2
NY Rangers 4
Florida 2
Toronto 2
San Jose 1
Edmonton 5
St. Louis 3
Vancouver 5
Dallas 4
Detroit 3
Anaheim 1
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