Penguins roll past Senators in Kehoe's coaching debut

PITTSBURGH -- Mario Lemieux's newest linemate had a big night, and it got Lemieux's very first linemate his initial NHL coaching victory.

Pittsburgh rookie Toby Petersen had three goals in his first game on Lemieux's line and the previously winless Penguins won coach Rick Kehoe's debut, beating the Ottawa Senators 5-2 Tuesday night.

"We wanted to win this for the new coach -- and for each other," Petersen said. "The guys definitely were pretty excited with the new coach. It was pretty sweet for me, too, because never in a million years did I expect this. I just wanted to make sure I didn't embarrass myself."

Robert Lang had two goals, one shorthanded and the other on a power play, as the Penguins scored four goals on nine shots in the second period -- three set up by Lemieux for his first points of the season.

Lemieux was held without a goal for the ninth consecutive game dating to last season, but his three assists followed two scoreless games. He missed two others with a hip injury.

"When I saw him take off on a breakaway, I said to myself, "That's a real good sign,'" Kehoe said of Lemieux, who was clearly off his game previously because of the hip injury.

Johan Hedberg had his first strong game in goal since last season's playoffs, turning aside Marian Hossa on a penalty shot in the first period and stopping 17 of 18 shots in the second period alone while making 37 saves. Ottawa was 0-for-7 on the power play.

The Penguins' 0-4 start tied their 1983-84 team for the worst in franchise history. Coach Ivan Hlinka was fired following a 4-1 loss Sunday in Buffalo in which the Penguins looked disorganized and disinterested.

Kehoe, a Penguins assistant coach or player for 27 of their 35 seasons, emphasized a return to the team's familiar uptempo offense during his first practice Monday, and the Penguins responded.

"I didn't know what to expect, really," said Kehoe, the third-leading scorer in Penguins history behind Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr. "I was a little nervous, for sure, because the players needed to win badly. It's a good start, but we still have a lot of work to do."

And how's this for coincidence: Kehoe, who played briefly on Lemieux's line at the start of Lemieux's rookie season in 1984-85 until getting hurt, wore No. 17 -- the same number Petersen now wears.

The Penguins didn't take long to follow Kehoe's advice as Petersen scored 30 seconds into the game. He got his stick on the puck as it scooted under goalie Patrick Lalime's pads during a scramble in front of the net.

Petersen played right wing on Lemieux's line only because the high-scoring Alexei Kovalev had knee surgery Tuesday and will be out about a week.

"We knew they would be a hungry team, with the change in coaches and the fact they hadn't won this year," Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said. "We knew they were going to play hard. We wanted to get off to a good start, and then they got that goal on their first shift."

Petersen, whose only two previous NHL goals came last season before Lemieux came out of retirement, made it 2-1 early in the second period. Lemieux weaved the puck through four Senators while skating across the slot, then slipped it to Petersen at the left side of the net for an easy tap-in.

"That's why he was the greatest player in the world before, and he's still the greatest," Lalime said.

Lang later scored the first of his two goals in a span of 4:41, again on a goal created by Lemieux's stick work. Lemieux's shot rebounded directly to his stick, and he swept it to Lang alongside the right edge of the crease at 14:00, 11 seconds into a two-man advantage created by Zdeno Chara's hooking penalty.

The Penguins were 0-for-21 on the power play before Lang's goal, then needed barely a minute to get their second power-play goal when Petersen scored from mid-slot off Lemieux's pass.

Lang scored Pittsburgh's fourth goal of the period and third in less than five minutes on a shorthanded breakaway at 18:41, catching up with Darius Kasparaitis' wraparound pass along the boards to easily beat Lalime.

Notes:

Kehoe also was Lemieux's first roommate. . . . Pittsburgh had won only one of its five most recent debut games by a coach, Herb Brooks' first game in December 1999. . . . Ottawa is 2-16-4 in Pittsburgh. . . . Petersen was the Penguins' player taken off the roster when Lemieux returned in late December.