Lemieux inspires Penguins to NHL third straight victory
Reuters, Pittsburgh
Mario Lemieux had three assists, giving him 10 points in his last three games, as the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Atlanta Thrashers 3-2 in National Hockey League action on Wednesday.
The Penguins top line of Lemieux, Aleksey Morozov and Alexei Kovalev has accounted for 10 of the last 14 Pittsburgh goals in the past three games, all wins.
Morozov scored one of the Penguins' goals on Wednesday before leaving with a severe cut in his left ear that needed 50 stitches.
Lemieux set up all three Pittsburgh goals, with Randy Robitaille and Kovalev scoring the other markers.
The Penguins are 3-1-0-0 after opening the season with an embarrassing 6-0 loss at home to Toronto, which hasn't won since.
The Thrashers have never beaten the Penguins (0-11-0-2) since joining the NHL.
Atlanta (0-2-0-1) trailed 3-0 after two periods but third period goals by Ilya Kovalchuk and Dany Heatley on Johan Hedberg made it close.
Milan Hnilicka made 35 saves in the Thrashers' goal.
Morozov did not return after his injury, but he's expected back in the line-up Saturday against Tampa Bay.
In Vancouver, Glen Murray had two goals and one assist to lead the Boston Bruins to a 6-3 win over the Canucks.
Sergei Samsonov and Joe Thornton both added one goal and two assists to the Boston attack, while P.J. Azelsson and Marty McInnis scored the other goals for Boston (2-1-0-0).
Boston starting goalie John Grahame left after one period, with Steve Shields finishing the game for the Bruins.
Harold Druken, Todd Bertuzzi and Daniel Sedin scored for Vancouver (2-2-0-0).
In Anaheim, Jason Allison scored the game-winning goal six minutes into the third period, giving the Los Angeles Kings their third straight victory, a 4-2 win over the Mighty Ducks.
Adam Deadmarsh, Bryan Smolisnki and Eric Belanger into an empty net scored the other goals for Los Angeles (3-0-0-0), while Jamie Storr made 31 saves in goal.
Dan Bylsma and Steve Rucchin replied for the Mighty Ducks (1-3-0-0).