Pens beat Hurricanes 3-2 in final home game of 2002-03 (2-Apr-2003)
The Penguins score two goals late in the third period to beat Carolina 3-2 in the final home game of the season. Eric Meloche opened the scoring at the 13 minute mark of the first period. Meloche's pass to the front of the net deflected off a Carolina defender's skate and in. The Hurricanes scored twice in the second (Zigomanis shorthanded at 9:53 and MacDonald at 11:45) to head into the third with a 2-1 lead. Richard Lintner tied the game at 16:59. Eric Meloche picked up a Mario Lemieux rebound and knocked home the game-winner on the power play with 10.1 seconds to go. Mario Lemieux had two assists in what may turn out to be his final game as a Penguin. He will not play in Washington in the season finale.
Scoring
1st
2nd
3rd
-
T
Hurricanes
0
2
0
-
2
Penguins
1
0
2
-
3
Shots on goal
1st
2nd
3rd
-
T
Hurricanes
6
11
10
-
27
Penguins
11
3
15
-
29
Power Plays
1st
2nd
3rd
-
T
Hurricanes
0-0
0-1
0-2
-
0-3
Penguins
0-0
0-3
1-2
-
1-5
Lines: Lefebvre-Lemieux-Meloche, Surovy-Straka-Lintner, Samuelsson-Johansson-Fata, and McKenna-Manderville-Daigle
Defensive pairings: Tarnstrom-Heins, Focht-Jonsson and Bouchard-Pushor
Goaltender: Sebastien Caron
Captain: Mario Lemieux
Alternate captains: Martin Straka, Steve McKenna
1st Period Scoring: Pittsburgh, Eric Meloche 4 (Guillaume Lefebvre, Mario Lemieux), 13:00.
1st Period Penalties: None.
Shots after one period were 11-6 in favor of Pittsburgh.
2nd Period Scoring: Carolina, Mike Zigomanis 2 (shorthanded) (Unassisted), 9:53; Carolina, Craig Macdonald 1 (Mike Zigomanis, Craig Adams), 11:45.
2nd Period Penalties: C Adams, Car (slashing), 2:56; H Jonsson, Pit (slashing), 6:25; C Macdonald, Car (interference), 8:33; B Defauw, Car (high sticking), 16:28.
Shots after two were 17-14 in favor of Carolina.
3rd Period Scoring: Pittsburgh, Richard Lintner 3 (Martin Straka, Tomas Surovy), 16:59; Pittsburgh, Eric Meloche 5 (power play) (Mario Lemieux, Dick Tarnstrom), 19:49.
3rd Period Penalties: M Johansson, Pit (hooking), 1:43; H Jonsson, Pit (interference), 10:06; R Bayda, Car (double minor high sticking), 18:27; S Caron, Pit (delay of game served by S Mckenna), 19:56.
Attendance: 15,718 (16,958 capacity) at Mellon Arena.
Scratches: Josef Melichar (shoulder - IR), Aleksey Morozov (wrist - IR), Matt Bradley (wrist - IR), Ramzi Abid (knee), Michal Rozsival (thumb), Brian Holzinger (knee), and Ville Nieminen.
