MELLON ARENA Minus Lemieux, Pens fall 4-2

Pittsburgh's captain missed only his second of the team's 42 games this season.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Toronto Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn felt a lot better about playing the Pittsburgh Penguins when he found out star Mario Lemieux was out with a sore groin.
After watching Pittsburgh's league-leading power play get eight opportunities in the first two periods and nine overall, Quinn was more than glad Lemieux was missing.
The Penguins' power play looked indecisive without the league's leading scorer, and the Maple Leafs took advantage Thursday by getting a goal and an assist each from Nik Antropov and Travis Green in a 4-2 victory.
The Maple Leafs were missing their top player, Mats Sundin, who is expected to remain out until Monday with a separated shoulder. But his injury not only didn't cause the Maple Leafs to go into a slump, they're 4-1-0-1 without him.
"This is a pretty gritty team, and we're getting contributions from everybody right now," Darcy Tucker said.
Increased scoring
Especially Green, whose increased ice time is paying off in increased scoring: three goals in three games and six points in six games.
Green helped set up Jyrki Lumme's goal with 2 1/2 minutes gone, then scored on a short-handed breakaway against goalie Jean-Sebastien Aubin to make it 2-0 later in the first period.
"It's tough to get your legs going when you play only 10 minutes a night," Green said. "A big part of things going good for you is confidence. It's a funny thing, but I feel good now and I feel like I can do some things. We need our guys back in the lineup, but everybody else is playing well."
Except for a brief flurry when Pittsburgh rallied to tie it on second-period goals by Shean Donovan and Steve McKenna, the Leafs did exactly that as Ed Belfour stopped 23 of 25 shots.
"Belfour was the difference," Penguins coach Rick Kehoe said. "We had our chances and we couldn't put it by him."
Of course, Quinn was left to wonder what might have happened if Lemieux had played, especially with the Penguins on the power play so often in the first two periods.
66 out Saturday
Lemieux missed only his second game of the Penguins' 42 games this season and his first because of an injury. He may remain sidelined for Saturday's home game against the Rangers.
"Thank God Mario was out," Quinn said. "We kind of gave up a couple of easy ones and the disparity in penalties was tremendously frustrating and puzzling. It's tough to end up with that many penalties against the best power play in the league."
Still, Toronto's ability to control the power play wasn't just the result of Lemieux's absence.
The Leafs' 90 percent success rate in killing off power plays on the road is the NHL's best, and it was aided Thursday by their game-long ability to block shots.
"With the injuries they have, if we had left two points on the table, it would not have been very good," Quinn said. "Eddie played really well for us. It was an important win, even if it wasn't artistic."