With the Blackhawks trailing only 3-2 in the second period Wednesday night, Pittsburgh center Mario Lemieux turned them into losers.
Lemieux, the leading scorer in the National Hockey League, netted his 47th goal of the season to give the Penguins a 4-2 lead. Then the 6-foot-4-inch Penguin intercepted a Hawk pass and sprang Paul Coffey, who scored on a short-handed breakaway.
Pittsburgh was ahead 5-2 and headed for a 8-3 victory, its second on the road in two nights. Coffey had three goals and an assist. Center Rob Brown scored twice.
It was only the second loss in seven games for the Hawks, but it dropped them to six games under .500 (19-25-3).
Lemieux began the night 12 points ahead of Edmonton`s Wayne Gretzky, who hasn`t played since Dec. 30 because of a twisted knee.
Hawk center Denis Savard, the No. 3 scorer in the league, was held scoreless.
The Hawks were losing 6-2 when Darren Pang replaced Bob Mason in goal to start the third period.
Although Wednesday`s game featured two of the league`s top three scorers, there were standing room spots available in the second balcony, as well as corner seats in the second balcony.
Apparently, some fans hear the words ”Pittsburgh Penguins” and think
”poor team, non-playoff team.” They don`t associate the Penguins with the prolific Lemieux, who is in his fourth professional season.
Mason had to face Lemieux Wednesday for at least 40 minutes. Pang had started seven of the previous eight games at the Stadium, including the last four. Pang was 4-3 in that stretch, winning the last four.
Mason went into the game with a 6-3-1 home record, 3-9-2 on the road. His last victory at the Stadium was Dec. 23, 7-5 over the New York Islanders.
The crowd of 15,398 was getting more and more restless as Pittsburgh scored three unanswered goals in the second period to take a 6-2 lead.
Lemieux scored the first goal of the middle period, his 47th of the season. Left wing Dave Hunter dumped the puck into the left corner and it came out to the circle. Lemieux got around a check from Dirk Graham and beat Mason from the circle at 1:37.
Lemieux was playing without Randy Cunneyworth, one of his linemates and the Penguins` No. 2 scorer. Cunneyworth is serving an eight-game suspension for two high sticking incidents. He is scheduled to return Feb. 2 against Washington.
All-Star defenseman Coffey scored on a short-handed breakaway to give Pittsburgh a 5-2 lead. Lemieux intercepted Steve Thomas` pass to the slot and sent the puck ahead to Coffey, who had just come out of the penalty box. Coffey moved in alone on Mason and scored at 8:54.
How much does Coffey mean to the Penguins? When he missed 12 games because of a slightly torn cartilage in his knee, the Penguins went 2-6-4. They were 7-1-1 in Coffey`s first nine games since being traded from Edmonton. Brown`s second goal of the night completed the scoring in the second period. Brown made it a 6-2 game after carrying the puck over the blue line, stopping quickly in the right circle to avoid defenseman Bruce Cassidy and beating Mason to the stick side.
Pittsburgh scored twice on the power play and led 3-2 at the end of an evenly played first period.
Troy Murray opened the scoring with his 13th goal 4:50 into the game. Cassidy sent a soft pass from the left point to Murray in front of the net. Murray missed the tip-in attempt, but scored on the rebound. The Hawks were still set up on the power play; Dan Quinn`s hooking penalty expired five seconds earlier.
Pittsburgh scored the next two goals. Quinn tied it up with a power-play goal at 9:30. He was moving to the slot from the right side when he passed to defenseman Phil Bourque on the left side. Bourque returned the puck to Quinn, who beat Mason from the slot with a shot high on the glove side.
Brown`s first goal put Pittsburgh ahead 2-1 at 14:16. With three Hawks standing nearby, Brown skated past the net, picked up a rebound of Chris Dahlquist`s shot and scored his ninth of the season.
Bill Watson, called up Monday from Saginaw, Mich., in the International League, scored his first goal of the season to tie the score 2-2 at 15:54. Graham carried the puck toward the net, drew coverage from Bourque and Rod Buskas and left the puck for Watson.
