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 Jagr pain free Penguins ahead of Maple Leafs but unhappy with play
Posted: Wednesday May 12, 1999 07:35 PM
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Here's a surprise: The Pittsburgh Penguins, the lowest-seeded team in the Eastern Conference playoffs, are halfway home to playing for the Stanley Cup. Here's another surprise: They don't act like it. Despite a comeback 4-3 victory Tuesday over the Toronto Maple Leafs that gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead in their second-round series, the mood at Wednesday's practice was decidedly businesslike and serious. Maybe it's because the Penguins sense they can't play Game 4 Thursday at the Civic Arena like they did Game 3, when they admittedly were lucky to win amid a succession of mental mistakes, defensive lapses and disputed calls. Coach Kevin Constantine wouldn't even let his players talk to reporters following the optional practice, rushing them into a meeting room to watch, on video tape, the error of their ways. Then, after a few players filtered back into the locker room, including star Jaromir Jagr, they were recalled for yet another meeting. Hey, who's ahead in this series? Don't tell them, but the Penguins have won six playoff games this spring - three more than the last two seasons combined -- and would unexpectedly reach the Stanley Cup finals by winning six more. "We played bad and we won," Jagr said. "It was a strange game. I didn't know until we looked at the video that we played that bad. [Goaltender] Tom Barrasso really saved the game." Barrasso and a guy named Jagr, who was relatively pain-free for the first time since injuring his groin in the first game of the Penguins' first-round series against New Jersey. Jagr had the tying goal in the third period and two assists and, for the first time in the series, the NHL scoring champion seemed to skate with most of his normal acceleration, power and maneuverability. He also felt more confident after working on his shooting -- specifically, his release and the angle of his shots -- on Monday. "The way I was shooting before, I didn't have good wood on it," he said. "I'm getting better now." So is his groin, a development he credits to an acupuncture treatment. He said he felt no pain within 20-25 minutes after undergoing the therapy Monday. And if the NHL's most dynamic scorer and playmaker is feeling better about his game, the Maple Leafs must feel worse about their chances of rebounding in a series they could trail 3-1 before they return home for Game 5 Saturday. It's not just that they let defensemen Kevin Hatcher, Bobby Dollas and Jiri Slegr score three of the Penguins' four goals. It's also that goaltender Curtis Joseph, almost impenetrable while allowing just 12 goals in eight previous playoff games this spring, permitted goals on two of the Penguins' three shots in the third period. "They made a couple of good shots to tie it and win it," Joseph said. "They were perfect shots." One not-so-perfect shot, too -- Kevin Hatcher's second-period goal that was disputed by the Maple Leafs. There was a five-minute delay as the goal was reviewed, and Maple Leafs general manager Ken Dryden spent 45 minutes after the game debating the call. But a super slow-motion replay shown by ESPN, not visible to reporters who were watching a different TV feed, showed the puck crossing the goal line alongside the near post before Joseph could snatch it back. Dryden, as unhappy as he was, did not blame the loss on what coach Pat Quinn called a "phantom goal," saying, "We blew it ourselves in the third period by losing our poise." The Maple Leafs also might be feeling the pressure of toting the entire weight of Canada's hockey world on their shoulders. They are the only Canadian team left playing in their country's national sport but, with two more losses, they will be gone, too. "We played pretty well for most of the game," forward Kris King said. "But if you have a couple of lapses, a team like this is going to capitalize."
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