1991 – 92 Pittsburgh Penguins season The 1991 – 92 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the Penguins 25th season in the NHL , and they were coming off of their 1st ever Stanley Cup victory in 1990 – 91 , as they defeated the Minnesota North Stars in the Finals in 6 games . The Penguins , along with the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers , had five 30 - goal scorers . Off - season . In the off - season , head coach Bob Johnson was diagnosed with brain cancer , causing him to step down , and the Penguins would bring in former St . Louis Blues , Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres head coach , Scotty Bowman , to replace Johnson . Bowman had led the Canadiens to 5 Stanley Cup championships in the 1970s . Johnson would lose his battle to cancer on November 26 , 1991 , and the Penguins would honor him by wearing a patch on the left sleeve of their jersey with his nickname " Badger " written on it along with his birth year and death year . Regular season . Pittsburgh started the season off very well , and through their first 38 games , they had a record of 22 – 12 – 4 , earning 48 points and fighting with the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers for 1st in the division . The team , along with Mario Lemieux missing some time due to his back injuries , would slump in their next 24 games , going 5 – 15 – 4 , to slide down to . 500 , and battling with the New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers for the final playoff position in the division . The Penguins , facing losing Paul Coffey as a free agent after the season , would deal him to the Los Angeles Kings in a move that looked like they were giving up for the season , however , they would make a move to bring some more grit to the team , acquiring Rick Tocchet , Kjell Samuelsson and Ken Wregget from the Philadelphia Flyers for Mark Recchi , and the club would have a 12 – 5 – 1 record to close out the season , and finish in 3rd place in the Patrick Division , making the playoffs for the 2nd straight season . Mario Lemieux led the club offensively , despite missing 16 games to injuries , as he earned an NHL high 131 points , as he scored 44 goals and 87 assists , to win the Art Ross Trophy . Kevin Stevens led the team with 54 goals , and finished 2nd in league scoring behind Lemieux with 123 points . Joe Mullen would also have a solid season , as he scored 42 goals and earned 87 points , while Jaromir Jagr continued to develop , as he recorded 69 points in 70 games . Larry Murphy put up a defense high 77 points in his 1st full season with the Penguins . In goal , Tom Barrasso played the majority of the games , earning a team high 25 victories , along with a team best 3 . 53 GAA , while earning a shutout for the club . Playoffs . In the playoffs , the Penguins would open up against the Washington Capitals , who they defeated in the 2nd round in the previous season en route to the Stanley Cup championship . The Capitals finished the season 11 points ahead of Pittsburgh , and had home ice for the series . Washington would open the series up with 2 solid victories at home , however , Pittsburgh responded with a game 3 victory to cut the Caps series lead in half . Washington would demolish the Penguins in the 4th game , going up 3 – 1 in the series , and returning home in hopes of closing it out . Pittsburgh had no trouble beating the Capitals in game 5 , winning 5 – 2 , and evened the series up at home in game 6 with a 6 – 4 win . In the 7th and deciding game of the series , Tom Barrasso would step up , allowing only 1 goal , as Pittsburgh won the final game by a 3 – 1 score to upset the favored Capitals , and complete their comeback . Up next was the Patrick Division winning New York Rangers , who had 18 more points than Pittsburgh during the regular season . Pittsburgh would surprise the Rangers with a 4 – 2 victory in the opening game , however , New York tied the series up in the 2nd game . The Rangers took a 2 – 1 series lead with 6 – 5 overtime victory . The Penguins would tie the series up with their own overtime win in the 4th game , as the series returned to New York for the 5th game . Pittsburgh would hang on for a 3 – 2 victory in the 5th game , and close out the series at home with a 5 – 1 win , to upset the Rangers , and return to the Conference Finals . The Penguins next opponent was the Boston Bruins , who they defeated last season in 6 games . The Bruins had 84 points during the regular season , 3 less than the Penguins , giving Pittsburgh home ice advantage . The Pens opened up the series with a 4 – 3 overtime win , then went up 2 – 0 in the series with a 5 – 2 win , as the series would shift to Boston . The Penguins stayed hot , winning games 3 and 4 by identical 5 – 1 scores , to sweep the Bruins , and reach the Stanley Cup finals for the 2nd straight season . Finals . Pittsburgh had to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks in hopes of a 2nd straight Stanley Cup . The Hawks finished the season with 87 points , the same amount as the Penguins , and had defeated the St . Louis Blues , Detroit Red Wings , and Edmonton Oilers to reach the finals , going into the series with an NHL playoff record 10 game winning streak . The Penguins were on their own 7 game winning streak , as they won the last 3 games of the Rangers series , and swept Boston . Pittsburgh stayed hot , with a 5 – 4 victory in game 1 , and then defeated Chicago 3 – 1 in the 2nd game to go up 2 – 0 as the series would move to Chicago Stadium . The Penguins would shutout Chicago 1 – 0 in the 3rd game to win their 10th game in a row , and Pittsburgh finished off the sweep with a 6 – 5 game 4 win , setting an NHL playoff record with their 11th straight win , as they would become the 1st team since the 1986 – 87 and 1987 – 88 Edmonton Oilers to win back - to - back Stanley Cups . Mario Lemieux would win his 2nd Conn Smythe Trophy , as he recorded a league high 34 points in only 15 playoff games . Draft picks . Pittsburgh ' s draft picks at the 1991 NHL Entry Draft Farm teams . The IHL ' s Muskegon Lumberjacks finished second in the East Division with a 41 - 28 - 13 record . They defeated the Milwaukee Admirals and Kalamazoo Wings before being swept by the Kansas City Blades in the Turner Cup Finals . This finals loss came as a result of the Penguins recalling Jock Callander , Mike Needham , and Dave Michayluk to fill open spots left by injuries to both Mario Lemieux and Joe Mullen . Michayluk still won the Ironman Award by the IHL for playing in all of his team ' s games while displaying outstanding offensive and defensive abilities . The East Coast Hockey League ' s Knoxville Cherokees finished last overall in the standings with a record of 20 - 36 - 8 .