NEW JERSEY VS. TORONTO BUFFALO VS. PITTSBURGH COLORADO VS. LOS ANGELES DALLAS VS. ST. LOUIS

Thursday, April 26 Updated: April 27, 3:07 AM ET Super Mario wins class-action duel By Brian A. Shactman ESPN.com BUFFALO – As soon as Mario Lemieux received the pass, he knew he was going to shoot. And Sabres goalie Dominik Hasek and everyone in the HSBC Arena knew it. Jaromir Jagr attracted all four Buffalo skaters in neutral-zone ice and blindly sent a backhand pass into the offensive zone. The puck ended up on Lemieux's stick as he skated from the bench and he barreled in alone on Hasek. Mario Lemieux didn't hesitate to take a shot right at Dominik Hasek, and it resulted in Pittsburgh's first goal. Lemieux vs. Hasek. The best vs. the best. And Lemieux won. Super Mario's slap shot hit the low side of the post and got past Hasek at 5:07 of the first period – the eventual game-winner in Pittsburgh's 3-0 victory over Buffalo on Thursday. The margin for error was that slight. "I decided to shoot right away," Lemieux admitted. "He actually challenged me pretty good." Not good enough, even though Hasek did come out to cut down the angle. "He can shoot. It just hit the post and in. I don't know what else to say," said a frustrated Hasek. "My defense – all four went after Jagr." It was a 4-on-4 situation, and the Sabres were trying to force a turnover as the Penguins were changing lines on the fly. Jagr held onto the puck as long as possible and then threw the it across the blue line. "We were cheating a little bit, trying to go the other way, and we can't do that. We have to worry about our end first," Sabres forward Chris Gratton said. Four Sabres skaters cheated so much that no one saw the 6-foot-4 Lemieux filling the middle lane. "Everyone started shifting, and they lost sight of Mario busting to the middle," said Penguins defenseman Bob Boughner, who had a great view from behind the play while looking for a rebound. "He (Jagr) knows he's (Lemieux) there. They've played together for so long, they know where each other are going to be. "Sometimes, he won't even look and will turn around and whip it and it will end up on Lemieux's stick." According to Boughner, Lemieux let it be known he was shooting right away for a specific reason. "It's a tactic he uses to out-wait the goalie," Boughner said. "Believe it or not, he does it on purpose to find out what the goalie's doing and how he's leaning. He does it in practice all the time." Taking that gamble in practice is one thing, but doing it in a playoff game against The Dominator is an entirely different challenge. No slight to Hasek, but even his Sabres teammates weren't shocked at Lemieux's confidence and his ability to score on Hasek. "He's beaten so many goalies so many different ways, nothing surprises me with Mario," said defenseman James Patrick, one of the four Sabres to get sucked in by Jagr. "We had a mix-up, obviously," Patrick said. The Sabres cannot afford many more mixups like that first-period lapse, or Buffalo might find itself heading back to Pittsburgh down 2-0 in the best-of-7 series. Brian A. Shactman covers the NHL for ESPN.com. He can be reached at brian.shactman@espn.com. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories

ALSO SEE Hedberg, Pens shut out Sabres Sidelined with shoulder injury, Jagr, coach exchange words 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