Kings 3, Penguins 2

Sunday December 15, 2002

LOS ANGELES (AP) The Kings saw just as much as they wanted of Mario Lemieux.

Mathieu Schneider scored with 37.4 seconds left in overtime to lift Los Angeles to a 3-2 victory over Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.

The goal by Schneider, and one by Craig Johnson with just 11:32 remaining in regulation allowed the Kings to rally from a 2-1 deficit in the third period.

Alexei Kovalev and Jan Hrdina scored for the Penguins, who have lost seven straight.

Playing in Los Angeles for the first time since Dec. 10, 1996, Penguins forward Mario Lemieux assisted on two goals. Lemieux has a 13-game point streak, in which he has eight goals and 19 assists. He has 16 goals and leads the NHL with 39 assists and 55 points.

``We stood around and watched the first 10 minutes, maybe a little in awe of Mario,'' Kings coach Andy Murray said. ``The remainder of the game we continued to grind on them and I think the win was justified.''

With Los Angeles trailing 2-1, Johnson swatted a rebound of his own shot past Pittsburgh goalie Johan Hedberg while being knocked to the ice. The goal was the first of the season by Johnson, who had 13 last season.

The Kings had several chances to win in overtime before Ziggy Palffy stole the puck in the Pittsburgh zone. He worked it to Jason Allison who sent a pass to Schneider at the right point.

``I knocked the puck down and just shot it as hard as I could,'' Schneider said. ``I think it hit something in front of the net.''

The Penguins managed one point in the standings with the overtime loss.

``It was important,'' Lemieux said. ``I thought we played well enough to get two points, but we made a mistake and it cost us.''

Kovalev came around the net and banked the puck off Kings defenseman Mattias Norstrom to open the scoring at 9:24 of the first. Lemieux and Hrdina assisted on the goal.

Kovalev's goal was the first allowed by a Los Angeles goalie in six periods. The Kings posted consecutive road shutouts for the first time in team history, beating Nashville on Tuesday and Dallas on Wednesday.

Los Angeles tied the game with an off-angle shot by Palffy during a power play at 11:22 of the second period. The Penguins responded with a power-play goal of their own just 74 seconds later.

With Kings forward Mikko Eloranta in the penalty box for interfering with Hedberg, Lemieux drilled a shot that goalie Felix Potvin kicked out. Hrdina swiped in and put in the rebound for a 2-1 Pittsburgh advantage at 12:36.< ^Notes:@ The Kings placed D Aaron Miller on the injured list Friday. Miller broke his left foot against Dallas. He is expected to be sidelined from four-to-six weeks. Joe Corvo was recalled from Manchester of the AHL to replace Miller. Corvo made his NHL debut Saturday. ... Los Angeles forward Erik Rasmussen left the game with a lower back strain and is day-to-day.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)