Classic Grind: The one where Mario meant to shoot the puck precisely where he did

Each Saturday during the ongoing apocalypse, I’ll revisit an older column that ran on this site, accompanied by a handful of current observations about it at the bottom.

This one ran in the Post-Gazette on Feb. 18, 2003:

If not for one timely error by the Penguins, Mario Lemieux might not have found himself wide open with the puck on his stick, cradling a golden chance to decide the game in overtime.

"We were all messed up," defenseman Joel Bouchard said after the 4-3 victory against the Edmonton Oilers last night at Mellon Arena. "All of us were on the wrong side."

But it still turned out just right for a team that desperately needs every bit of fortune it can find.

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