NHL Lemieux rallies Penguins to 5-2 win over Sabres

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Mario Lemieux has shown off his great skill in many places during his Hall of Fame career, but the faceoff circle hasn't been one of them.
Until Monday night.
The Pittsburgh Penguins' captain scored one goal directly off a faceoff and set up another off a clean faceoff win, both in the third period, as he rallied the Penguins to a 5-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.
Lemieux had one goal and three assists in a span of 6 minutes, 2 seconds as he and linemates Alexei Kovalev and Martin Straka combined for eight points in the game's final nine minutes to help Pittsburgh overcome a 2-1 deficit.
"I've tried that so many times over the years, and one of these days it was going to work," Lemieux said.
Scores on faceoff
Lemieux won a faceoff from Chris Gratton in the right circle and beat goaltender Mika Noronen all in the same motion for the game-winning goal at 13:10 of the final period.
"For some reason, I can only try that against a lefty," Lemieux said.
With right-handed Stu Barnes opposing him in the right circle 4:01 later, Lemieux cleanly won the draw around Barnes and then slipped a pass into the slot for Straka, who scored his eighth goal.
"I think it was a bit of Mario magic," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said.
It finished the improbable comeback and give the Penguins their second consecutive victory following a 10-game winless streak.
Kovalev ties it
Kovalev scored the first of his two goals at 11:09 of the period to tie it at 2 off a perfect pass from Lemieux.
He added his team-leading 19th goal by converting Straka's pass at 16:02.
Rookie Ales Kotalik gave Buffalo a 2-1 lead late in the second period with his first career power-play goal at 13:28.
But the Sabres fell apart in the final period while losing to the Penguins for the third time this season.
The loss was the third straight for the Sabres, who have won just one of their last seven games.