No-Name Penguins Keep Rolling, Edge N.J.

The Pittsburgh Penguins knew for months their next Stanley Cup run wouldn’t include Mario Lemieux. What they never guessed was they’d make it with guys named Ian Moran, Drake Berehowsky - and, yes, Norm Maciver.

Luc Robitaille gambled off a poor New Jersey Devils’ line change for the tie-breaking goal with 1:16 left, and Ken Wregget outplayed first-round goaltending star Martin Brodeur to give the depleted Penguins a 3-2 victory Saturday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Robitaille and Ron Francis scored on shots off Brodeur’s glove and Wregget, with mostly reserve defensemen protecting him, turned away a succession of dead-on shots while making 27 saves as the Penguins won their fourth consecutive playoff game.

“They made a lot of great plays, but we didn’t break down,” said Wregget, who has allowed only three goals in his last three games, the previous two as Pittsburgh rallied from a 3-1 series deficit against the Washington Capitals. “It also helps to have great goal scorers.”

Pittsburgh’s top three scorers - Jaromir Jagr, Francis and Robitaille - each had goals as the Penguins withstood the absence of first-line defensemen Ulf and Kjell Samuelsson to win a Game 1 for the first time in their last four playoff series. They can take a 2-0 lead Monday night at the Civic Arena.

“We were a little rusty, and we had a million point blank shots we missed,” Devils defenseman Ken Daneyko said. “We’ll be better next time. This was a game we handed them on a silver platter.”

Or, actually, a badly timed line change.

Robitaille, left unprotected as the Devils changed lines at the same time Larry Murphy was grabbing the puck off Jim Dowd’s stick, took Murphy’s lead pass and bounced a 3-foot shot off Brodeur’s glove hand.

“I waited for a second to see what would happen, and I knew I was alone when I got the pass,” Robitaille said. “I didn’t try to make a good move, I just tried to put good wood on it. Sometimes you get a little lucky.”

Coach Jacques Lemaire said Robitaille’s seventh playoff goal was emblematic of the Devils’ lack of solid hitting on Pittsburgh’s big scorers.

“I saw too many mistakes at different times, and I’m not satisfied with that,” he said.

Penguins 3, Devils 2

New Jersey 1 0 1 - 2 Pittsburgh 0 1 2 - 3

First period-1, New Jersey, Richer 3 (Lemieux, Broten), 11:39.

Second period-2, Pittsburgh, Francis 4 (Maciver, Murphy), 8:12.

Third period-3, Pittsburgh, Jagr 8 (Francis, Murphy), 1:16 (pp). 4, New Jersey, Lemieux 3 (Chambers, Albelin), 11:01. 5, Pittsburgh, Robitaille 7 (Murphy), 18:44.

Shots on goal-New Jersey 10-8-11-29. Pittsburgh 12-4-7-23.Power-play opp.-New Jersey 0 of 3; Pittsburgh 1 of 3.Goalies-New Jersey, Brodeur 4-2 (23 shots-20 saves). Pittsburgh, Wregget 5-2 (29-27).A-16,643 (17,181).