79 on Wednesday night, snapping a six-game losing streak. PITTSBU

MONTREAL -- Guy Lapointe was gardening in his front yard last week when Montreal Canadiens owner Geoff Molson pulled up to his house for an unannounced visit. Lapointe didnt know what was in store for him. As it turned out, the former Canadiens defenceman was about to receive an unexpected honour. From Lapointes kitchen in Saint-Lazare, Que., Molson announced that the Hall-of-Famer will become the 18th player in Canadiens history to have his jersey retired by the team. The retirement ceremony will occur during the course of this coming National Hockey League season. "Its extraordinary," Lapointe said Thursday at the Canadiens Hall of Fame, located at the Bell Centre. "With the people Ill be next to -- Jean Beliveau, Henri Richard, Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson, Serge Savard -- I just cant stop thinking about it. I was happy with just looking up at those jerseys. I never thought, in all sincerity, that my number would be retired. It never crossed my mind." On Thursday, the Canadiens organization made official the decision to retire Lapointes No. 5, the first jersey to be honoured since 2009 when Elmer Lach and Emile (Butch) Bouchard received whats considered one of the most prestigious honours in sports. Lapointe, 66, will finally be reunited with his Big Three teammates -- Savard and Robinson -- in the Bell Centre rafters. Savards No. 18 was retired in 2006, and Robinsons No. 19 joined the following year. Known as much for their staunch defending and offensive prowess, the Big Three were instrumental in Montreals six Stanley Cup victories in the 1970s. And the three defencemen were on hand at the Bell Centre on Thursday to celebrate Lapointes big day. "Im happy to see you both here," the Montreal native Lapointe told his former teammates before pointing to the rafters. "But Ill be even happier to see you up there when my jersey is going to be retired." Between 1968 and 1984, Lapointe played 16 seasons in the NHL -- 12 of them with the Canadiens before brief stints with the St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins. Always a threat on the power play, Lapointe was known for his explosive speed, his inspired bouts of offence, and his rocket of a slapshot. He recorded 622 points in 894 career games, and ranks second in goals by a Canadiens defenceman with 166. Nicknamed Pointu, Lapointe had three consecutive 20-goal seasons, and still holds the Canadiens record for most goals in a year by a defenceman with 28. In his first complete season with the Habs in 1970-71, Lapointes 15 goals set a franchise record for a rookie defenceman. The record still stands today. "A lot of minutes in a lot of situations -- thats the way he was," said Robinson of Lapointe, whom he compared to Montreals P.K. Subban. "Guy could hold his own against anybody. He could play in all situations, play a lot of minutes. Thats the reason hes in the Hall of Fame. "Its very fitting to have his sweater up there. Im glad I got mine up there first -- I finally beat him at something." Lapointe was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1993, two years before Robinson. He won six Stanley Cups -- all with the Canadiens -- including four consecutive championships between 1976 and 1979. "I grew up with this excellent organization," said Lapointe, who also pointed to the 1972 Summit Series in Moscow and 1976 Canada Cup -- both memorable victories for Canada -- as exceptional moments in his career. "The Canadiens helped me become a better hockey player and a better person. The team allowed me to reach goals I didnt even think were possible. "Winning was always our goal. That paid dividends throughout my career. I was a lucky person to make the team. I owe a lot to the Montreal Canadiens. Theyve been very good to me." Off the ice, Lapointe was known as a prankster, notorious for shaking hands with former Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau with a palm covered in Vaseline. After Lach and Bouchard had their jerseys retired in 2009 -- the ninth and 10th such commemorative event in the five years leading up to the Canadiens centennial anniversary -- the teams organization put the process on hold. Fans clamoured for Lapointe to join the Canadiens legends in the rafters, including the defencemans daughter Stephanie, who started a petition last year to have her fathers jersey retired. "Dreams really do come true!" Stephanie Lapointe tweeted on Wednesday when the news was announced. "Never give up! I am beyond proud of my dad! Finally he is being awarded this honour!" Molson says the Canadiens organizations focus over the last five years has been rebuilding the team on the ice. On Thursday, he said the time was finally right to give Lapointe his long-awaited recompense. "Its a name that kept resurfacing when we bought the team in 2009," said Molson of the final Big Three defenceman. "We were in the process of retiring a lot of jerseys at that time. "I feel good about the organization (now). I feel good about the development of our players, the general manager, and our support staff. Were well on our way to having a winning organization year after year. The fans have had a break from the centennial celebrations. And its a nice surprise for Lapointe." Notes: Lapointe is currently the Minnesota Wilds amateur scouting co-ordinator. a Robinson flew up from San Jose, Calif., on two days notice for the event. a Howie Morenzs No. 7 was the first jersey retired by the Canadiens, in 1937. a Lapointes is the second No. 5 to be retired by the Canadiens. He joins Bernie (Boom Boom) Geoffrion, whose jersey was raised to the rafters in 2006. Colorado Avalanche Jerseys . Wade is posting a short film on his website next week, with a sneak preview scheduled to come out Wednesday. Adam Foote Jersey . Snedekers best result so far this year is a tie for eighth place at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. He sits 113th in FedEx Cup standings and has dropped to 31st in world rankings — not the results expected from a player ranked fourth in the world only two years ago. http://www.hockeyavalanche.com/customized/ . To be fair, the celebrations are already anything but tame. Nerf ball tricks shots are just the tip of the iceberg for a group that has performed in zero gravity, faced pro-skateboarder Rob Dyrdek and an assembled team on the MTV series "Fantasy Factory", and even hit a basketball trick shot from a passing blimp. Paul Kariya Jersey . The Packers, Lions and Bears were a combined 35-15 and as long as Jay Cutler can say healthy, all three could make the playoffs in 2012. Lanny McDonald Jersey . With their coach gone, they finally played offence the way he would have wanted. Amare Stoudemire made all seven shots in the first half, Anthony passed and shot well, and the Knicks shook off the surprising departure of their coach to rout the Portland Trail Blazers 121-79 on Wednesday night, snapping a six-game losing streak. PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins were glad to be back at Consol Energy Center after their longest road trip in three years. Recently, though, theyve felt right at home against the Washington Capitals regardless of where they play. Marc-Andre Fleury made 32 saves for his fifth shutout of the season, leading Pittsburgh to a 2-0 victory over Washington on Tuesday night. Jussi Jokinen and Sidney Crosby scored for the Penguins, who swept the teams home-and series one night after beating the Capitals 3-2 in Washington. Pittsburgh has beaten its longtime rivals a franchise-record eight straight times. "Every time we play them, its pretty intense," said Fleury, who has 28 career shutouts. "Its always a close game and a hard-fought game, so its nice to get the W." The Penguins have also won three in a row and picked up at least a point in eight of their last 10 games. Pittsburgh was at home for the second time since the end of the Olympic break, having travelled more than 6,000 miles in playing five games over three time zones the previous 10 days. Jaroslav Halak stopped 32 shots in his third start for Washington. Alexander Ovechkin was held without a point for the fourth consecutive game as the Capitals lost for the fourth time in their last five. Fleury tied his career high for shutouts in a season while winning his sixth straight start against the Capitals, whom the Penguins swept the season series from for the second year in a row. "We created a lot more chances than last game and more shots, and that was something we wanted to improve on," Crosby said. "But defensively we were pretty good." Pittsburgh widened its lead in the Eastern Conference to three points over the idle Boston Bruins and also increased its Metropolitan Division bulge to 16 points over the New York Rangers. Unlike Fleury, Halak was played both games on consecutive nights between the teams. Acquired in a trade from the Buffalo Sabres last week, Halaks first three starts with the Capitals have come over a four-day span. Jokinen beat him at 16:41 of the first. Left unchecked by Capitals defenceman Mike Green while skating through the slot, Jokinen offered a deft re-direct of Matt Niskanens shot from the right point for his 17th goal of the season -- but first since Jan. 30. Evgeni Malkin earned the second assist on the play, extending his assists streak to five games. Crosby scored for the second straight night against Halak, this time with a low wrist shot to the stick side with 5:48 left in the game after skating swiftly down the right wing. Halak said he wass surprised by the shot -- he was expecting Crosby to pass it to Chris Kunitz.dddddddddddd. "I just tried to look to pass as long as I could," Crosby said, "just to see if hed bite and try to hold him there." Lee Stempniak had the only assist on the goal in his home debut for Penguins after he and fellow forward Marcel Goc were acquired in trade-deadline day deals last week. Eleven minutes into the second period, the Capitals came the closest to scoring when rookie Evgeny Kuznetsov flipped a shot from just to the right of Fleury that clanged off the post before deflecting off of Fleurys left pad as he sprawled out. "If we tie the game there," Ovechkin said, "maybe its a little bit different game." Largely untested and forced to make just 12 saves through two periods, Fleury faced the brunt of the Washington onslaught during the third. "The first period, they controlled the game," Ovechkin said. "The last 30 minutes, we played our game, got the puck deep, started to cycle. Maybe we were just a little bit tired, maybe we were just a little sleepy. We just werent ready for the first period. The Capitals No.2 NHL power play had two opportunities over the games final 12 minutes, plus an extended 6-on-5 with Halak pulled over the final 90 seconds. But Fleury denied chances by Mark Chimera, Troy Brouwer and Marcus Johansson for some of his best third-period saves. "The first and second, there werent too many shots," Fleury said. "The third was crazy -- but it was fun though. You get a good sweat and get a win." Washington dropped into 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings and dropped three points out of the final playoff spot. "(The desperation level) needs to be a little more from everybody," Halak said. "Now, its do-or-die for us." NOTES: Kunitz missed a shift after crashing violently into the goal post during the third period. Bylsma said the contact was not directly to Kunitzs knee. ... Washington C Brooks Laich did not make the trip to Pittsburgh because he continues to be hampered by a groin injury. Laich has missed two of the past four games. ... Early Tuesday, the Capitals recalled C Casey Wellman and D Patrick Wey from their American Hockey League affiliate in Hershey. Wey, a native of a Pittsburgh suburb, was a healthy scratch. ... Before the game, Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said that D Kris Letang has been skating and working out in Pittsburgh. Letang has not played since suffering a stroke Jan. 29. He remains out indefinitely. 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