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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- The extra rest didn't make the
difference for the Pittsburgh Penguins; Mario Lemieux did.
|  | | Johan Hedberg stops Jason Arnott for one of his 27 saves for the Penguins. |
Lemieux ignited a three-goal second period by setting up goals
by Aleksey Morozov and Alexei Kovalev in a 2:57 span, and the Penguins rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat the New Jersey Devils 4-2 on Tuesday night.
"There was no way that we were going to shut him down the whole series," Devils goalie Martin Brodeur said of Super Mario. "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 allowing the Penguins to even the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals 1-1. They built the lead and then stopped playing the tight-checking brand of 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."
Robinson took a shot at Lemieux heading into Games 3 and 4 Thursday and Saturday at Pittsburgh.
"For a while it looked like a football game," Robinson told the Newark Star-Ledger of Tuesday's game. "So much clutching and grabbing and holding. I thought Mario didn't (play) like that, but I guess it was working for everybody else so he thought he might as well try it."
After being held without a shot in Game 1, Lemieux finished with two shots and two assists Tuesday night.
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 go 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 Toronto's Tie Domi knocked him out with an elbow nearly two weeks ago.
The Penguins, who showed little energy playing on 45 hours rest in Game 1, appeared headed for another loss after Hedberg gave up two soft goals in the first period.
"It didn't look too good after the first 20 minutes," said Lemieux. "We came back and were upset about it. We made some adjustments and started to skate a lot better."
Pittsburgh's chances seemed to worsen after Corbet was whistled for holding at 9:10 of the second.
However, 10 seconds after Corbet went to the box, the Penguins
were back in the game. Right after the faceoff, Lemieux led a
2-on-1 break with Morozov. Lemieux snapped a shot off Martin
Brodeur's pads, and Morozov whacked the rebound into an open net.
"When we got the first goal everybody started to believe," Hedberg said. "We had a good couple of minutes, and we were back in the game. Mario was once again there to make the big plays for us."
Hedberg, who picked up his game in the final two periods, kept
it a one-goal game with a great pad save on Scott Gomez's breakaway at the end of the power play.
"I thought I had him, but he made a great save," Gomez said.
Then it was again time for Lemieux, who rescued the Penguins in the conference semifinals against Buffalo, scoring late in Game 6 to force overtime with his team on the verge of elimination.
This time, he jumped off the bench and intercepted a clearing
pass by defenseman Ken Daneyko. He backhanded a soft pass to
Kovalev, who fired a one-timer past Brodeur.
"It's like a repeat story of every series with Mario," Kovalev said. "He's definitely the guy who kick-started us, especially winning the draw and going down with Morozov to score, because we had nothing going on."
Corbet's first goal of the playoffs was a fluke. Wayne Primeau knocked down a clearing pass by defenseman Sean O'Donnell. Defenseman Brian Rafalski tried to hit the puck out of the zone, but Corbet knocked it down and one-timed the puck between Brodeur's legs.
"The puck was bouncing," Corbet said. "I had a good whack at
it and I think I surprised Marty."
Kovalev set up Lang's insurance goal at 5:15 with a nice pass from behind the net.
Hedberg, the minor leaguer who won the starting job late in the season and then emerged as a star in the playoffs, gave up two bad goals in allowing New Jersey to take the lead.
Pandolfo got the first on what looked like a cross-ice pass
intended for Sergei Nemchinov, driving to the net to the left of
the goalie. Hedberg put his stick out to block the pass, but the
puck jumped, hit his blocker and went down and into the net at 8:52.
Sykora scored on a short-handed breakaway with a slap shot
between Hedberg's pads. It was his team-high seventh goal of the
playoffs, but one Hedberg knew he should have stopped, slamming his
stick to the ice in disgust.
Hedberg almost knocked another puck into the net in the opening minute of the second period, trying to handle a pass from behind the goal line by New Jersey's Alexander Mogilny.
Game notes
Ken Sutton, who filled in so well with Niedermayer sidelined for four games, was scratched along with Turner
Stevenson, who sat with the return of Sergei Brylin (knee). ... The Penguins didn't change their lineup from Game 1. ... The Devils, who scored power-play goals in seven straight games, were 0-for-5 with the extra man. Pittsburgh's short-handed goal was only the
second one against the Devils in the playoffs. ... Pittsburgh was
0-for-2 with the extra man. ... Hedberg said he was knocked out for
a second when bowled over by Mogilny in the third period. He said
his neck hurt a little.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
New Jersey Clubhouse
Penguins-Devils Series Page
Jagr convinced these are his final days with Penguins
Pens' Kasparaitis sits out Game 3 vs. Devils
Shactman: Short-handed surprise
Niedermayer returns to Devils' lineup for first time since Domi hit
RECAPS
Pittsburgh 4
New Jersey 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Rene Corbet bats the bouncing puck through Martin Brodeur's five-hole.
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The referee's whistle negates the goal and Johan Hedberg escapes a barrage of New Jersey shots.
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Robert Lang gets a second opportunity to score and makes the Devils pay.
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Alexei Kovalev slaps home the one-timer from Mario Lemieux off the New Jersey turnover.
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Mario Lemieux puts the shot on net and Alexei Morozov puts home the rebound.
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Petr Sykora streaks down the ice and scores the short-handed goal for New Jersey.
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Jay Pandolfo's centering feed deflects off goalie Johan Hedberg's stick and into the net.
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 Mario Lemieux and the Penguins now have added confidence after doubling up the Devils 4-2.
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Robert Lang breaks down the Penguins' Game 2 performance in New Jersey.
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The playoffs are the wrong time for Larry Robinson's Devils to make avoidable mistakes.
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