Canucks ruin Lemieux’s return to Penguins’ lineup
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Henrik Sedin and Matt Cooke scored on successive first-period shots Tuesday night and the Vancouver Canucks held on for a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins, ruining Mario Lemieux’s return to the lineup. Lemieux, the NHL scoring leader, missed all but 3:53 of the Penguins’ previous 11 games with a groin injury. He assisted on Alexei Kovalev’s second-period goal while playing his first full game since Jan. 4.
Kovalev, the subject of constant trade speculation, scored twice for Pittsburgh, which has won just one of its last seven games (1-5-1).
Mats Lindgren also scored for Vancouver, which won its second consecutive game at Mellon Arena after going 12 seasons without a win in Pittsburgh.
After going 16 games without a goal, Sedin scored for the second consecutive game at 7:48 of the first period.
Kovalev, held without a goal in 16 of his previous 18 games, took Martin Straka’s pass and beat Vancouver goaltender Dan Cloutier from the bottom of the right circle at 5:57 of the second period.
He converted another pass from Straka from behind the net with 9:23 left to draw the Penguins within a goal.