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Saturday, February 08, 2003

By Dave Molinari, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Matchup: Penguins vs. Boston Bruins, 3:08 p.m. today, FleetCenter.

TV, radio: WTAE-TV; WWSW-FM (94.5), WBGG-AM (970).

Probable goaltenders: Johan Hedberg for Penguins. Jeff Hackett for Bruins.

Penguins: Are 2-1 in past three visits to FleetCenter, including 2-1 victory Jan. 13. ... LW Martin Straka does not have goal in nine games. ... Have 1-1-1 record in games following shutout losses.

Bruins: Have gone 5-1-1-1 in past eight games. ... Are 21-3-2-1 when allowing two or fewer goals, 23-2-3 when scoring three or more. ... Have recorded 30 or more shots in 16 of past 20 games.

Hidden stat: Bruins have scored the winning goal in the final minute of regulation three times this season.

RW Alexei Kovalev was the only healthy player to sit out the Penguins' 35-minute workout at Southpointe yesterday. Checking-line winger Shean Donovan filled in for him alongside Mario Lemieux and Martin Straka during drills.

The greatest indictment of the Penguins' performance in their 6-0 loss to Florida Thursday night at Mellon Arena was registered on the scoreboard. Just in case anyone misinterpreted that, Kovalev offered a brutally candid assessment of their work against the Panthers after practice yesterday. "We were just standing, watching," he said. "We got caught out of position, we didn't really finish our checks when we needed to. We weren't aggressive at all in front of our net. When we go in front of the other team's net, we can't even get the puck. We can't get deflections or rebounds; you get slashed, whacked, everything. That's what we need to do in our zone."

With G Johan Hedberg coming off the injured-reserve list, the Penguins' major-league roster will stand at the NHL maximum of 23. How Hedberg holds up when he plays against Boston today will dictate the team's next personnel move. If he shows no sign of trouble with the broken collarbone that prevented him from playing for the past month, Sebastien Caron or Jean-Sebastien Aubin will be assigned to the Penguins' minor-league team in Wilkes-Barre within a few days. Management has been noncommittal on when one of them will be sent to the Baby Penguins -- or which it will be -- but at least one segment of the front office seems inclined to send Caron down. Not because of displeasure with his performance -- he has exceeded almost everyone's expectations during his first month in the league -- but because those who support assigning him to Wilkes-Barre believe he has NHL-caliber talent and will progress more quickly if he starts several games per week instead of serving as Hedberg's backup.

Lemieux declined to speak to reporters after practice yesterday but suggested in the wake of the Florida debacle that he isn't optimistic the team will pull off a major roster overhaul to bolster itself for a playoff run. "It's tough to make trades now," he said. "Pretty much every team is just looking for a guy or two, so it's not like the old days where you could trade three guys for three guys, or four [for] four. Those days are gone. What you have is what you have, and you have to work with it."

Many of the current Penguins never played in Boston Garden, the far less sterile predecessor of the FleetCenter and one of the most fabled buildings in NHL history. But even though the new arena lacks the character of the Garden, C Wayne Primeau believes there's something special about games in Boston. "I still like the atmosphere," he said. "It's not like Boston Garden, but it's still Boston, and a lot of great players have come out of here."

Boston will be without D Sean O'Donnell, who is expected to be out until mid-March because of a sprained right knee he got in a 3-2 overtime loss Tuesday to Colorado. O'Donnell has been a reliable contributor at both ends of the rink and is averaging more than 21 minutes of ice time per game. "It's a very tough loss," Bruins D Bryan Berard told the Boston Herald. "[O'Donnell] has been loading up the ice time and really played well for us."

Bruins General Manager Mike O'Connell told reporters he is optimistic about the prospects of signing G Jeff Hackett, acquired from Montreal in a three-way trade last month, to a contract extension that will prevent him from becoming an unrestricted free agent after this season. Hackett is 3-1, with a 1.75 goals-against average and .926 save percentage since joining the Bruins.

WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON (22-23-3-3) did not play.

WHEELING (19-27-3) did not play.