Sounds familiar _ Game 6 reprieve keeps Penguins season alive By ALAN ROBINSON AP Sports Writer Thursday May 10, 2001 1:05 AM PITTSBURGH (AP) - A Game 6 at home, a series nearly lost - then, a late goal from their big star and, suddenly, a season is saved. If it all sounds familiar to the Pittsburgh Penguins, it should, as it's happened for the second time in three years. Now, they get to play a Game 7 in Buffalo on Thursday they were very close to not playing. "It was a great feeling coming in here, having the enthusiasm back and the momentum back," defenseman Bob Boughner said Wednesday. Especially because all seemed lost for the Penguins - the series and, yes, Mario Lemieux's comeback season, too - until Lemieux put a wildly bouncing puck past Sabres goalie Dominik Hasek with 1:18 left in regulation in Game 6 Tuesday night. Given yet another reprieve by Lemieux, who seemingly never runs out of ways to save the team he owns, the Penguins won it 3-2 at 11:29 of overtime on Martin Straka's second overtime game-winning goal of the playoffs. "Great players do that, when they're needed most they step up and score big goals," goalie Johan Hedberg said. "I think everybody played well, fighting hard all over the ice, hitting and skating, and we finally got a reward." Some might not consider a decisive game in Buffalo a reward, but the Penguins seemed much more relaxed and at ease Wednesday than going in to Game 6 at home, where they had lost twice to the Sabres last week. Lemieux no doubt has something to do with that. He hadn't scored in nearly 17 periods, and twice had to be helped off the ice after being leveled by mid-ice hits, only to return and score his 76th career playoff goal. "With the momentum now, we've got nothing to lose ... we were almost done," Jaromir Jagr said. "It was one minute to go and we were almost done. Buffalo has the home-ice advantage now, but I don't know if it's an advantage." The Penguins have another edge, because the four previous times they trailed 3-2 in a series and won Game 6, they went on to win Game 7. The last time they did it, in 1999 against top-seeded New Jersey, the circumstances were remarkably similar. Jagr, who had missed four games with a groin injury, unexpectedly returned to play Game 6 at home and forced overtime with a late goal. Then he won it in overtime, and the Penguins went on to win Game 7 at New Jersey. The Penguins also rallied from 3-2 deficits to beat Washington in 1995 and 1992 and New Jersey in 1991. In 1991 and 1992, they won the Stanley Cup. By contrast, they are 0-4 in Game 7s when they led a series 3-2, but lost Game 6. "Nothing is ever the same (in the playoffs) but, hopefully, it will be the same and we'll go to the next round," Jagr said. If they do win Thursday, they will get Lemieux a step closer to his stated desire of playing for another Stanley Cup. Of course, the Sabres care nothing about comebacks and great story lines, especially when they involve the other team. "They'll be ready to go," Kevin Stevens said. "They're not going to sit on a tough loss. I've been there before, and they'll be ready." None of the Penguins expect a tightly played, physical series to change now, not after consecutive 3-2 overtime games decided as much by tricky bounces as talent. The Penguins led 2-0 in Game 5 in Buffalo on Saturday, only to lose after a Sabres shot went through three Penguins and was inadvertently pushed into his own net by Hedberg. "It's going to be the same tomorrow as Game 6, it's going to be very tight, probably one little mistake will decide the game," Jagr said. "Right now, we just want to win, it doesn't matter how you do it, you have to win."
