Lemieux to sit out Saturday's game against Rangers Friday November 16, 2001 4:11 PM CANONSBURG, Pa. (AP) - Mario Lemieux will sit out the Pittsburgh Penguins' game against the New York Rangers on Saturday to rest his right hip, which was operated on three weeks ago. After the surgery, Lemieux returned to the lineup more than a week earlier than expected, playing last Saturday at Tampa Bay. He then played games on back-to-back nights - Tuesday at New Jersey, and Wednesday against the New York Islanders - and said his hip hurt in each of those outings. Lemieux labored through the Islanders game, playing nearly 25 minutes while recording just one shot and no points in a 3-3 tie. He hasn't skated since, sitting out practice Friday. "I'll take a couple of days off, see what happens," Lemieux said. Asked if he might have come back too early, Lemieux said, "I don't know." Lemieux had no goals and three assists in the three games after his arthroscopic surgery, which repaired loose cartilage. He has one goal in 11 games overall, the worst start of his 14-year NHL career. He has nine assists and a minus-3 rating. Pittsburgh is 2-4-2 in the games Lemieux has missed, 5-3-1-2 in games he's played. Penguins coach Rick Kehoe said Lemieux could return to the lineup as early as Wednesday against the Vancouver Canucks. "He just needs a little rest," Kehoe said. Team doctors, he added, "said everything's all right. It's just that he has a lot of soreness. He was hurting the other night, but he's that type of guy, a competitive guy where he wants to play. Now, it's time to give him a little break."
