ATLANTA, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Rookie Kris Beech, who started the season centering superstar Mario Lemieux, set up the tying and winning goals Tuesday night as the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied for a 4-2 win over the Atlanta Thrashers.
With the Penguins trailing 2-1, Stephane Richer picked up the rebound of Beech's inital shot and buried it to knot the score at 6:49 of the second period.
Beech picked up a secondary assist on Michael Rozival's power-play goal 10 minutes later. Beech sent a pass to Robert Lang at the right boards and he fed Rozival in the slot. Rozival fired a one-timer past goaltender Milan Hnilicka for the go-ahead goal.
Lemieux scored his first goal of the season and added an assist.
Rookie Dany Heatley had a goal and an assist for Atlanta, which fell to 0-7-1 all time against Pittsburgh.
Ilja Kovalchuk gave the Thrashers a 1-0 lead at 6:14 of the first period when he scored on a one-timer from an odd angle along the left boards. But Lemieux knotted the score 27 seconds later when he reached around from behind the net and tapped in a loose puck.
Atlanta regained the lead with 3:15 remaining in the first period. Defenseman Frantisek Kaberle sent a pass to Heatley, who was breaking towards the crease. Defenseman Darius Kasparaitis tried to drive Healey into the crossbar, but the puck bounced off of Heatley's chest and past goaltender Johan Hedberg for the score.
Hnilicka made 35 saves but dropped to 1-2-0 on the season. The Thrashers are winless in four games at home (0-3-1).
