Thursday, Apr. 26 7:30pm ET
Jagr leaves with 'charley horse' injury
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BOX SCORE
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – The Pittsburgh Penguins overcame an injury
to scoring star Jaromir Jagr to open the second round of the
playoffs with a victory.
Mario Lemieux had a goal and an assist, and rookie Johan Hedberg
stopped 25 shots in Pittsburgh's 3-0 victory over the Buffalo
Sabres on Thursday night.
|  | | Doug Gilmour can't get the deflection past Pens goalie Johan Hedberg, who earned his second shutout of the playoffs Thursday. |
The victory was tempered by Jagr's right leg injury, described
only as a "charley horse." The NHL scoring leader was injured in
the last minute of the second period.
"I tried to play but I couldn't," said Jagr, who informed
coach Ivan Hlinka of the injury during the second intermission.
As for playing in Game 2 on Saturday, Jagr said: "I just cannot
tell you if I'm going to be able to play or not."
Jagr set up Lemieux's goal, when the Penguins took advantage of
a Buffalo's defensive collapse 5:07 into the game.
The Penguins carried the momentum over from their tight-checking
first-round victory over Washington, by thwarting a much more
talented Sabres team.
"We always want to score first. It gives us a lot of confidence
with the defense that we have now," Lemieux said. "We feel that
one or two goals should be enough for us to win the game."
A lot of that has to do with the way Hedberg – in only his fifth
week in the NHL – has been playing.
Hedberg, acquired in a late-season deal from San Jose where he
was fourth on the Sharks' depth chart, had his second shutout of
the playoffs and has allowed just 10 goals in seven games.
His biggest stop came midway through the third period, with
Pittsburgh clinging to a 1-0 lead, when he somehow got his glove
on James Patrick's one-timer from the slot.
"This is something I've been working for my whole life. When I
came here, I didn't know if I could play in the NHL or not,"
Hedberg said. "Things have just been rolling along."
Have they ever.
"It's a big plus," Lemieux said of Hedberg. "Buffalo's had
that for many years with Dominik (Hasek) here. They know if they
make a mistake, they've got their goalie back there who'll usually
make the stop. That's the feeling we have with Hedberg."
On this night, Hasek couldn't save the Sabres from their own
mistakes.
Lemieux's goal came with both teams playing four skaters a side.
Jagr drew all four Sabres skaters to the left boards, spun
around and fed a perfect pass to Lemieux, who was fresh off the
bench coasting up the right wing.
Crossing the blue line, Lemieux blasted a 30-footer that beat
Hasek.
While it was Lemieux's 75th career playoff goal, it was only
fourth ever against Hasek, and first in Buffalo.
It was also came four years to the day, to when Lemieux had
thought he had played his last game, retiring after Pittsburgh was
eliminated by Philadelphia in the first round of the 1997 playoffs.
Josef Beranek, filling in for Jagr, set up Jan Hrdina's goal
that made it 2-0 with six minutes left. Former Sabres Wayne Primeau
sealed the victory, scoring four minutes later.
The Penguins are 3-0 in the postseason at Buffalo, after
eliminating the Sabres 2-1 in a best-of-three 1979 first-round
series _ the only other time the two teams have met in the
playoffs.
The Sabres are 2-16 in the playoffs when losing the first game
of a series.
"We made some big mistakes," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said.
"We didn't play well enough to win the game. If you want to give
Mario the blue line in to tee it up, I'd give him three out of four
that he's going to score."
Said Hasek: "The way we played and approached the game, it was
disappointing for everyone here. There was something missing. It
didn't look like we played a playoff game."
Game notes
The Sabres caused a stir with their fans by almost doubling
the price of their second-round playoff tickets. The top-priced
seat sold for $154, up from $82 during the regular season, while
the cheapest ticket costs $39, up from $21. ... NHL commissioner
Gary Bettman, speaking to reporters during the first intermission,
said the league is monitoring merger discussions between the
financially troubled International Hockey League and the American
Hockey League. "My hope is that we find a more stable minor league
environment. I think there's been too much instability and that's
not good for anyone," Bettman said. ... Sabres D Richard Smehlik,
nursing a sore ankle injured in Game 3 of Buffalo's first-round
series against Philadelphia, did not play. Buffalo also was without
checking forward Erik Rasmussen (slightly separated right
shoulder).
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
Buffalo Clubhouse
Penguins-Sabres Series Page
Jagr tests leg, not sure if he will play in Game 2
Shactman: Lemieux challenges Hasek ... and wins
RECAPS
Toronto 2
New Jersey 0
Pittsburgh 3
Buffalo 0
Los Angeles 4
Colorado 3
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Jaromir Jagr makes the sweet back-handed pass to Mario Lemieux for the opening goal.
avi: 1367 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN'
'Cable Modem
Johan Hedberg gets some help from his defenders to stop the Sabres' rush in the shutout performance.
avi: 1354 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN'
'Cable Modem
Josef Beranek's shot dings off the post and lands on the stick of Jan Hrdina for the goal.
avi: 1561 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN'
'Cable Modem
 Johan Hedberg was up to the challenge tonight against the Sabres.
wav: 444 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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