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Tuesday, February 27, 2001
Lemieux admits he'll be tempted to play
Associated Press
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PITTSBURGH – Mario Lemieux said he probably will skip the
Penguins' game Saturday at Washington to help his fragile back.
Lemieux has played all 26 games since he ended a 3½-year
retirement Dec. 27, with 22 goals and 20 assists, but has been
playing hurt since he injured his back Feb. 9 at practice. He said
recently that he might start skipping the second games of
back-to-back games.
Lemieux plans to play Wednesday at Montreal and Friday at New
York. He said he'll probably be tempted to play Saturday.
"It's hard, especially if I'm going to be feeling a little bit
better, but back-to-back games haven't been too successful in the
past," Lemieux said. "So, at this stage, with 20 or so games left
in the season, I have to make sure I'm ready for the big dance."
He added, "I'm feeling much better."
Since he injured his back, Lemieux has twice played in
back-to-back games. He had no points and a minus-4 rating combined
in the second games of those sets, even though both were against
weaker expansion teams: Feb. 11 at Minnesota and Feb. 17 at
Columbus.
After this weekend, the Penguins have three more sets of
back-to-back games in the regular season. The second games are
March 8 at Atlanta, March 17 at Tampa Bay and April 8 at Carolina.
In the meantime, Lemieux will play his first game in his
hometown of Montreal since March 26, 1997. Until the 1996-97 season – his last before retirement – Lemieux struggled in Montreal. But
he had a four-goal third period in a 5-2 victory on Jan. 26, 1997,
and he scored two goals in an 8-5 loss March 26 of that year.
The game Wednesday at the Molson Centre is sold out.
"Obviously, I want to do well," Lemieux said. "So much
pressure is put on me there. My family is going to be there. A lot
of friends. It's the place that I grew up, and I have a lot of
respect for the Montreal Canadiens organization for what they have
accomplished. It's always special for a French-Canadian to go back
home and play."
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