Lemieux hospitalized with irregular heartbeat; status unknown

Pittsburgh Penguins owner-player Mario Lemieux was hospitalized Wednesday for observation of an irregular heartbeat, the latest medical problem for a Hall of Famer who has missed the equivalent of five full seasons because of illness or injury.

Lemieux was to be monitored overnight in an undisclosed hospital and won’t play tonight against the Minnesota Wild. The team said his playing status will be day to day after that.

According to Penguins general manager Craig Patrick, Lemieux reported having an irregular heartbeat after practice.

The 40-year-old Lemieux recently missed two games because of what the team described as the stomach flu, but it was not immediately known if an illness that lingered for several weeks was related to his latest problem.

Lemieux is seventh in NHL career scoring with 1,722 points, seven fewer than No. 6 Steve Yzerman of Detroit. Lemieux is eighth in goals with 690.

“Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Eric Desjardins is expected to miss eight-to-10 weeks because of a dislocated right shoulder that will require surgery to fix.

“Montreal Canadiens center Radek Bonk will be out indefinitely because of a torn groin muscle.

On the ice

Predators 5, Capitals 2: At Washington, Marek Zidlicky and Scott Sullivan scored two goals apiece to lead Nashville past Washington.

Flames 4, Devils 1: At East Rutherford, N.J., Jarome Iginla had two goals and an assist as Calgary topped New Jersey.

Blackhawks 2, Rangers 1 (OT): At Chicago, Tyler Arnason scored a power-play goal 1:20 into overtime to lift Chicago over New York. With Martin Rucinsky serving a high-sticking double minor, Arnason put it past Henrik Lundqvist.

Stars 4, Panthers 3: At Dallas, Jere Lehtinen scored twice, including the tiebreaker with 15.8 seconds left, and Dallas handed Florida its 10th straight road loss.

Avalanche 4, Bruins 1: At Denver, Vitaly Kolesnik stopped 20 shots in his NHL debut, and Alex Tanguay had a goal for the third straight game and added two assists to lift Colorado over struggling Boston.