Karen Price
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Mario Lemieux was back to his typical reserved self Wednesday morning, addressing reporters calmly and matter-of-factly about the penalty that pushed him over the edge the night before.
"It was just a bad call," he said of the interference penalty that put the Florida Panthers on the power play with 18 seconds left in a tie game. "The guy was skating backwards, and I was coming back in the zone, we collided, we both went down, I get the penalty. Especially with 18 seconds, the puck was going out of the zone, why would I knock somebody down? The puck's going the other way. It's just. ... frustrating."
That statement applies to a lot more than just the penalty.
The overtime loss brought the Penguins' record to nine games with no wins and the fewest points (five) in the Eastern Conference. They play again tonight against the also-struggling Atlanta Thrashers, losers of five of six games.
Throughout the slump -- even with rumors of organizational meetings and canceled team photos swirling through the media yesterday -- many of the players have talked about it still being early in the season, needing to stay positive, etc.
Lemieux's reaction told a different story Tuesday night.
He came out of the penalty box after the Panthers' game-winning goal, made a beeline for referee Stephane Auger and gave him an earful. If it weren't for the linesmen intercepting him like an opponent picking off a Penguins' outlet pass, Auger probably would have ended up on the business end of Lemieux's frustration.
"It's frustrating for everyone, but when you see Mario, the captain of the team and the best player in the NHL, losing it like that, it makes you want to go out there and just win because you know he wants to win," rookie center Maxime Talbot said. "He's (ticked) off, I guess. He's frustrated the way things are going right now."
One team staff member said he'd never seen Lemieux, who finished with just over 21 minutes of ice time, six shots, four missed shots and no points, so upset after a game. Declining to speak to reporters, Lemieux sat at his stall in the Penguins' private dressing area for at least 15 minutes after the game ended and after some teammates had already showered, dressed and gone home.
Yesterday, the man who for years has lobbied for a crackdown on interference and obstruction still had issue with the particular call that ultimately cost them the game.
"As soon as somebody falls down, it's a penalty," Lemieux said. "They've been told to call everything, and that's what they're doing, which is pretty good. But you have to pay a little more attention to your work, I guess."
Officiating is probably the least of Lemieux's worries right now, though.
"I don't know," he said when asked what needs to be done to correct occasionally trigger-happy officiating. "I've got enough problems."
Sidney Crosby, whom Lemieux yesterday said has been the team's best player "by far" this season, said that Lemieux's reaction after Tuesday's loss didn't necessarily send a message, but that it wasn't fun to watch, either.
"For me, you never like to see a teammate that emotional, that fired up," Crosby said. "And especially Mario. He doesn't do that unless there's something really wrong there. I really felt for him there because I know what it's like to be in situations like that where he wants to win so bad. To be put in a situation like that, it's not fun. It's just unfortunate that that's the way it was."
Karen Price can be reached at kprice@tribweb.com.
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