Lemieux Bids Adieu To Hockey

NHL playoffs

Mario Lemieux’s great career came to an end Saturday night amid thunderous ovations from Philadelphia fans as the Flyers eliminated his Pittsburgh Penguins from the playoffs and sent the three-time NHL MVP into retirement.

Lemieux, a six-time scoring champion, had a goal and assist in his final NHL game.

The Flyers, behind two short-handed goals from Rod Brind’Amour, beat the Penguins 6-3 to take the series 4-1.

Lemieux, 31, won two Stanley Cups and this year collected his sixth NHL scoring title with 122 points. After coming back from Hodgkin’s disease and back injuries, the Penguins captain said on April 5 he would retire once the season ended.

After Saturday night’s game, he did not seem to regret the decision.

“I haven’t been able to play at a high level, and that is very tough for me to take,” he said.

Lemieux also said he has no plans to play in the 1998 Olympics in Japan.

Lemieux, sixth on both the NHL’s regular-season points list (1,494) and goals list (613), had a goal and an assist to finish his career with 155 points (70 goals, 85 assists) in 89 playoff games.

Including the regular season, Pittsburgh finished the season 0-15-1 on the road.

Flyers 6, Penguins 3

Pittsburgh 2 1 0 - 3

Philadelphia 3 2 1 - 6

First period-1, Philadelphia, Lindros 3 (Renberg, Niinimaa), :14. 2, Pittsburgh, Hatcher 1 (Jagr, Lemieux), 5:37 (pp). 3, Pittsburgh, Lemieux 3 (Jagr, Francis), 15:34. 4, Philadelphia, Brind’Amour 2, 17:38 (sh). 5, Philadelphia, Brind’Amour 3 (Dykhuis), 18:32 (sh). Second period-6, Pittsburgh, Francis 1 (Jagr, Olausson), 2:37 (pp). 7, Philadelphia, LeClair 4 (Niinimaa, Svoboda), 7:30. 8, Philadelphia, Klatt 2 (Desjardins), 10:28. Third period-9, Philadelphia, Prospal 1 (Brind’Amour, Lindros), 19:55 (en). Shots on goal-Pittsburgh 6-5-7-18. Philadelphia 18-19-8-45.Power-play opp.-Pittsburgh 2 of 6; Philadelphia 0 of 7.Goalies-Pittsburgh, Wregget 1-4 (44 shots-39 saves). Philadelphia, Snow 4-1 (18-15).A-20,009 (19,511).

Devils 4, Canadiens 0

New Jersey

Martin Brodeur, who had a league-leading 10 shutouts during the regular season, made 24 saves for his first of the playoffs as New Jersey defeated Montreal to advance to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The Devils took the best-of-7 series 4-1. They will next play either Ottawa or the New York Rangers.

While the Canadiens avoided a sweep by winning Game 4 in triple overtime, it marked the second consecutive year they were eliminated in the first round.

Kevin Dean, who did not play in the first four games, scored his first-ever playoff goal - the game winner - at 17:32 of the first period.

Montreal 0 0 0 - 0

New Jersey 1 1 2 - 4

First period-1, New Jersey, Dean 1 (Stevens, Sykora), 17:32. Second period-2, New Jersey, Holik 2 (Odelein, MacLean), 14:17 (pp). Third period-3, New Jersey, MacLean 3 (Carpenter, Chambers), 8:01 (sh). 4, New Jersey, Odelein 2 (Chambers, Gilmour), 11:08 (pp). Shots on goal-Montreal 4-6-14-24. New Jersey 19-13-17-49.Power-play opp.-Montreal 0 of 3; New Jersey 2 of 5.Goalies-Montreal, Theodore 1-1 (49 shots-45 saves). New Jersey, Brodeur 4-1 (24-24).A-19,040 (19,040).

Avalanche 6, Blackhawks 3

Chicago

Defending NHL champion Colorado advanced to the Western Conference semifinals, rallying from a three-goal deficit to beat Chicago.

Valeri Kamensky’s second goal of the night and fifth in two games, on a power play with 12 minutes to go, gave the Avalanche a 4-3 lead. Claude Lemieux followed 1:25 later with another man-advantage goal.

Colorado’s next opponent is still to be determined. It would play Edmonton if the Oilers defeat Dallas today.

Colorado 1 2 3 - 6

Chicago 3 0 0 - 3

First period-1, Chicago, Carney 1 (Shantz), 2:46. 2, Chicago, Suter 1 (Savard, Amonte), 10:18. 3, Chicago, Amonte 4, 17:28 (sh). 4, Colorado, Sakic 2 (Corbet), 18:37 (pp). Second period-5, Colorado, Kamensky 4 (Lemieux, Yelle), :28. 6, Colorado, Sakic 3 (Deadmarsh), 15:10. Third period-7, Colorado, Kamensky 5 (Forsberg), 8:00 (pp). 8, Colorado, Lemieux 5 (Sakic, Ozolinsh), 9:25 (pp). 9, Deadmarsh 1 (Forsberg, Lemieux), 17:00. Shots on goal-Colorado 12-10-7-29. Chicago 10-5-9-24.Power-play opp.-Colorado 3 of 6; Chicago 0 of 2.Goalies-Colorado, Roy 4-2 (24 shots-21 saves). Chicago, Hackett 2-4 (29-23).A-21,172 (21,172).