Pens blow two goal lead and lose 5-3 to Kings (25-Feb-2003)
The Penguins had a 2-0 lead after 15 minutes of the first period but then saw Los Angeles score 4 unanswered goals and eventually lost 5-3. Martin Straka (5:02 - 1st period) and Mario Lemieux (15:23 - 1st) opened up the 2-0 lead which chased Kings' goalie, Jamie Storr, from the game. LA inserted rookie goaltender Cristobal Huet who only allowed a Lemieux breakaway goal midway through the third. Attendance was a woeful 11,736 at Mellon Arena. It was the second smallest crowd this season.
Scoring
1st
2nd
3rd
-
T
Kings
1
2
2
-
5
Penguins
2
0
1
-
3
Shots on goal
1st
2nd
3rd
-
T
Kings
12
10
7
-
29
Penguins
8
7
10
-
25
Power Plays
1st
2nd
3rd
-
T
Kings
1-2
1-3
0-0
-
2-5
Penguins
0-1
0-3
0-0
-
0-4
Lines: Surovy-Lemieux-Straka, Fata-Robitaille-Hrdina, Samuelsson-Primeau-Donovan and McKenna-Manderville-Moran
Defensive pairings: Tarnstrom-Lintner, Bergevin-Jonsson and Heins-Pushor
Goaltender: Johan Hedberg
Captain: Mario Lemieux
Alternate captains: Marc Bergevin, Wayne Primeau
1st Period Scoring: Pittsburgh, Martin Straka 16 (Mario Lemieux, Dick Tarnstrom), 5:02; Pittsburgh, Mario Lemieux 24 (Tomas Surovy, Dick Tarnstrom), 15:23; Los Angeles, Jaroslav Modry 10 (power play) (Zigmund Palffy, Mathieu Schneider), 17:49.
1st Period Penalties: B Norton, Los (double minor unsportsmanlike cond, roughing), 5:40; J Pushor, Pit (unsportsmanlike cond), 5:40; Bench, Pit (delay of game served by S Mckenna), 15:57; S Donovan, Pit (cross checking), 17:21.
Shots after one period were 12-8 in favor of Los Angeles.
2nd Period Scoring: Los Angeles, Zigmund Palffy 27 (Alexander Frolov), 12:55; Los Angeles, Zigmund Palffy 28 (power play) (Derek Armstrong, Mathieu Schneider), 16:39.
2nd Period Penalties: J Hedberg, Pit (delay of game served by T Surovy), 0:45; Z Palffy, Los (high sticking), 1:24; S Heins, Pit (holding stick), 6:02; M Schneider, Los (obstruction interference), 6:19; M Bergevin, Pit (high sticking), 15:46; M Norstrom, Los (tripping), 19:23.
Shots after two were 22-15 in favor of Los Angeles.
3rd Period Scoring: Los Angeles, Bryan Smolinski 15 (Chris Schmidt, Eric Belanger), 3:42; Pittsburgh, Mario Lemieux 25 (Martin Straka), 10:15; Los Angeles, Bryan Smolinski 16 (Zigmund Palffy), 10:49.
3rd Period Penalties: None.
Three Stars of the Game:
Zigmund Palffy, LA (2g, 2a)
Mario Lemieux (2g, 1a)
Bryan Smolinski, LA (2g)
Goalies: Los Angeles, Jamie Storr (8 shots, 6 saves), Cristobal Huet (15:23 of 1st period, 17, 16; record: 1-0-0).
Pittsburgh, Johan Hedberg (29 shots, 24 saves; record: 14-14-3).
Attendance: 11,736 (16,958 capacity) at Mellon Arena.
Scratches: Josef Melichar (shoulder - IR), Aleksey Morozov (wrist - IR), Jean-Sebastien Aubin (hand - IR), Joel Bouchard (jaw - IR), Michal Rozsival (concussion) and Ville Nieminen.
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