BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Penguins defenseman Janne Laukkanen isn't making any radical predictions about how Mario Lemieux's comeback attempt will play out.
He isn't telling friends that Lemieux will put up four points per game, and won't be making a special trip to his jeweler to check his ring size.
But Laukkanen, who is recovering from a knee injury, has been on the ice with Lemieux lately. Enough to offer a pretty firm assessment of Lemieux's game.
"I practiced with him a couple of times last week," Laukkanen said yesterday. "And it looks like the stories that they tell are true."
Laukkanen didn't say exactly which stories, but he didn't have to. No matter how ridiculous a tale anyone might tell about something Lemieux did on the ice, chances are it's historically accurate.
And if Lemieux hasn't done it yet, he probably will sometime.
Especially if someone tells him he can't.
That's what makes his comeback attempt at age 35 so compelling. And why the attention of the sporting world figures to be focused on Mellon Arena when Lemieux resumes his playing career tonight at 7:38 against Toronto.
"The whole world's anticipating his return to the ice in an actual game," Penguins rookie forward Toby Petersen said. "They've seen him in practice, but they want to see him perform, what he can do."
Not all of the questions about Lemieux's comeback will be answered this evening, of course, but his teammates will be looking for a few insights on just what kind of impact he'll have during the second half of the season.
"That's what we're going to see [tonight]," right winger Alexei Kovalev said. "You're definitely not going to see [Lemieux at his best] right away -- it's going to take some time for him to come back. The skill will be there, but the energy, it's tough to bring back. It's going to take three, four, five games to get in game-shape. Practice is one thing -- he's definitely in better shape now than I've ever seen him before -- but it's different when you practice and when you play."
That sentiment was echoed by Lemieux's former and future linemate, Jaromir Jagr -- "Practices are different from games" -- but other Penguins contend the issue is not whether Lemieux can be a major contributor, but how quickly.
"He looked really good [in practices]," forward Jan Hrdina said. "He had unbelievable hands and looked fast, too. He's going to have no problems."
The Penguins might have one focusing on tonight's game, however. The day will be so full of distractions, what with hundreds of media members swarming around and the potential for actual crowd noise at Mellon Arena, that playing Toronto might seem almost secondary.
And that could be a serious problem for a team that has lost five consecutive games at home, just two shy of a franchise record.
"Having Mario's going to be a big plus, and hopefully, we're going to have a lot of jump in our game," defenseman Darius Kasparaitis said. "The past couple of games we've played at home, we haven't had anything."
If nothing else, Lemieux could given an instant boost to their power play. It is 2 for 30 in the past seven home games and, going into the Penguins' game at Buffalo last night, hadn't produced more than one goal in a game since Nov. 16.
"He always had an impact on the power play," Kovalev said. "I don't think he's lost anything. He still has that skill to be successful on the power play."
There could be an adjustment period for all concerned, of course, but precedent suggests Lemieux has the talent to seriously reduce, if not eliminate, that.
"I don't think it really will take that long," center Robert Lang said. "With those things, you never know. It could take one game, it could take five. But definitely, it won't take too long."
He also doesn't think there's any question Lemieux will reclaim a place among the league's elite. At least in part because Lemieux himself seems so certain of it.
"If he couldn't, I don't think he'd ever make this move," Lang said. "I think he really believes in himself, and I think everybody else does, too. There's no reason not to."
Penguins believe Lemieux's impact will be instant 
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