1991–92 Pittsburgh Penguins season

The 1991–92 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the Penguins 25th season in the NHL. The Penguins finished 3rd in the Patrick Division and defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals 4 games to 0.
==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. The Penguins, along with the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers, had five 30-goal scorers.
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.
===Final Standings===
===Game Log===
 See Also 1991–92 Pittsburgh Penguins: Head-to-Head Results
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record 	Pts
1 	October 4 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	5–4 	Buffalo Sabres 	1-0-0 	2
2 	October 6 	Philadelphia Flyers 	2–2 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	1–0–1 	3
3 	October 10 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	6–3 	Philadelphia Flyers 	2–0–1 	5
4 	October 12 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	1–4 	New Jersey Devils 	2–1–1 	5
5 	October 15 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	7–6 	New York Islanders 	3–1–1 	7
6 	October 17 	New York Islanders 	5–8 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	4–1–1 	9
7 	October 19 	New York Rangers 	5–4 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	4–2–1 	9
8 	October 22 	Chicago Blackhawks 	4–4 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	4–2–2 	10
9 	October 24 	New Jersey Devils 	4–2 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	4–3–2 	10
10	October 26 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	1–4 	Montreal Canadiens 	4–4–2 	10
11	October 29 	Washington Capitals 	8–0 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	4–5–2 	10
12	October 31 	Minnesota North Stars	1–8 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	5–5–2 	12
13	November 2 	Hartford Whalers 	6–5 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	5–6–2 	12
14	November 5 	Boston Bruins 	5–5 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	5–6–3 	13
15	November 8 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	3–1 	Winnipeg Jets 	6–6–3 	15
16	November 9 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	3–2 	Minnesota North Stars	7–6–3 	17
17	November 11	Pittsburgh Penguins 	1–3 	New York Rangers 	7–7–3 	17
18	November 13	Edmonton Oilers 	4–5 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	8–7–3 	19
19	November 15	Pittsburgh Penguins 	2–6 	Washington Capitals 	8–8–3 	19
20	November 18	Pittsburgh Penguins 	7–3 	Quebec Nordiques 	9–8–3 	21
21	November 20	Philadelphia Flyers 	2–5 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	10–8–3 	23
22	November 23	New York Islanders 	2–2 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	10–8–4 	24
23	November 27	New Jersey Devils 	4–8 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	11–8–4 	26
24	November 29	Pittsburgh Penguins 	9–3 	Philadelphia Flyers 	12–8–4 	28
25	November 30	Philadelphia Flyers 	1–5 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	13–8–4 	30
26	December 3 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	3–5 	Edmonton Oilers 	13–9–4 	30
27	December 5 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	8–0 	San Jose Sharks 	14–9–4 	32
28	December 7 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	1–6 	St. Louis Blues 	14–10–4	32
29	December 10	New York Rangers 	3–5 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	15–10–4	34
30	December 13	Pittsburgh Penguins 	4–3 	New Jersey Devils 	16–10–4	36
31	December 14	Washington Capitals 	7–2 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	16–11–4	36
32	December 17	San Jose Sharks 	2–10 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	17–11–4	38
33	December 19	Pittsburgh Penguins 	6–4 	Boston Bruins 	18–11–4	40
34	December 21	New York Rangers 	7–5 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	18–12–4	40
35	December 23	Pittsburgh Penguins 	6–3 	New York Islanders 	19–12–4	42
36	December 26	Toronto Maple Leafs 	1–12 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	20–12–4	44
37	December 28	Pittsburgh Penguins 	6–2 	Washington Capitals 	21–12–4	46
38	December 29	Pittsburgh Penguins 	6–3 	New York Rangers 	22–12–4	48
39	December 31	New Jersey Devils 	7–4 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	22–13–4	48
40	January 2 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	0–4 	New Jersey Devils 	22–14–4	48
41	January 4 	Winnipeg Jets 	2–3 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	23–14–4	50
42	January 7 	Los Angeles Kings 	5–2 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	23–15–4	50
43	January 10 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	5–7 	Calgary Flames 	23–16–4	50
44	January 12 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	4–3 	Vancouver Canucks 	24–16–4	52
45	January 16 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	3–3 	Detroit Red Wings 	24–16–5	53
46	January 23 	Buffalo Sabres 	5–4 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	24–17–5	53
47	January 25 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	5–3 	New York Islanders 	25–17–5	55
48	January 26 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	4–6 	Washington Capitals 	25–18–5	55
49	January 28 	Winnipeg Jets 	4–0 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	25–19–5	55
50	January 30 	New York Islanders 	8–5 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	25–20–5	55
51	February 1 	St. Louis Blues 	1–4 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	26–20–5	57
52	February 3 	Detroit Red Wings 	4–4 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	26–20–6	58
53	February 5 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	3–4 	New York Rangers 	26–21–6	58
54	February 8 	Los Angeles Kings 	4–3 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	26–22–6	58
55	February 9 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	3–6 	Boston Bruins 	26–23–6	58
56	February 15	Pittsburgh Penguins 	2–5 	Minnesota North Stars	26–24–6	58
57	February 16	Pittsburgh Penguins 	3–3 	Philadelphia Flyers 	26–24–7	59
58	February 18	Toronto Maple Leafs 	1–7 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	27–24–7	61
59	February 20	Quebec Nordiques 	4–4 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	27–24–8	62
60	February 22	Pittsburgh Penguins 	1–2 	Montreal Canadiens 	27–25–8	62
61	February 25	Pittsburgh Penguins 	3–5 	Washington Capitals 	27–26–8	62
62	February 27	Hartford Whalers 	4-8 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	27–27–8	62
63	February 29	Buffalo Sabres 	2–5 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	28–27–8	64
64	March 3 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	6–3 	Calgary Flames 	29–27–8	66
65	March 6 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	7–3 	San Jose Sharks 	30–27–8	68
66	March 7 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	3–5 	Los Angeles Kings 	30–28–8	68
67	March 10 	Calgary Flames 	2–5 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	31–28–8	70
68	March 12 	New York Islanders 	4–6 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	32–28–8	72
69	March 14 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	3–6 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	32–29–8	72
70	March 15 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	4–3 	Chicago Blackhawks 	33–29–8	74
71	March 17 	Edmonton Oilers 	5–6 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	34–29–8	76
72	March 19 	Quebec Nordiques 	3–6 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	35–29–8	78
73	March 22 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	2–2 	Hartford Whalers 	35–29–9	79
74	March 24 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	3–4 	Detroit Red Wings 	35–30–9	79
75	March 26 	Vancouver Canucks 	3–7 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	36–30–9	81
76	March 28 	Montreal Canadiens 	3–6 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	37–30–9	83
77	March 31 	Philadelphia Flyers 	5–6 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	38–30–9	85
78	April 13 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	1–5 	New Jersey Devils 	38–31–9	85
79	April 15 	Washington Capitals 	1–4 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	39–31–9	87
80	April 16 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	1–7 	New York Rangers 	39–32–9	87
==Playoffs==
=== Pittsburgh Penguins 4, Washington Capitals 3 ===
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.
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record
1	April 19	Pittsburgh Penguins	1–3 	Washington Capitals	0–1
2	April 21	Pittsburgh Penguins	2–6 	Washington Capitals	0–2
3	April 23	Washington Capitals	4–6 	Pittsburgh Penguins	1–2
4	April 25	Washington Capitals	7–2 	Pittsburgh Penguins	1–3
5	April 27	Pittsburgh Penguins	5–2 	Washington Capitals	2–3
6	April 29	Washington Capitals	4–6 	Pittsburgh Penguins	3–3
7	May 1 	Pittsburgh Penguins	3–1 	Washington Capitals	4–3
=== Pittsburgh Penguins 4, New York Rangers 2 ===
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.
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record
1	May 3 	Pittsburgh Penguins	4–2 	New York Rangers 	1–0
2	May 5 	Pittsburgh Penguins	2–4 	New York Rangers 	1–1
3	May 7 	New York Rangers 	6–5 	Pittsburgh Penguins	1–2
4	May 9 	New York Rangers 	4–5 	Pittsburgh Penguins	2–2
5	May 11	Pittsburgh Penguins	3–2 	New York Rangers 	3–2
6	May 13	New York Rangers 	1–5 	Pittsburgh Penguins	4–2
=== Pittsburgh Penguins 4, Boston Bruins 0 ===
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.
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record
1	May 17	Boston Bruins 	3–4 	Pittsburgh Penguins	1–0
2	May 19	Boston Bruins 	2–5 	Pittsburgh Penguins	2–0
3	May 21	Pittsburgh Penguins	5–1 	Boston Bruins 	3–0
4	May 23	Pittsburgh Penguins	5–1 	Boston Bruins 	4–0
=== Pittsburgh Penguins 4, Chicago Blackhawks 0 ===
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.
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record
1	May 26	Chicago Blackhawks 	4–5 	Pittsburgh Penguins	1–0
2	May 28	Chicago Blackhawks 	1–3 	Pittsburgh Penguins	2–0
3	May 30	Pittsburgh Penguins	1–0 	Chicago Blackhawks 	3–0
4	June 1	Pittsburgh Penguins	6–5 	Chicago Blackhawks 	4–0
==Player Stats==
===Regular Season===
;Scoring
Player	Pos	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	C 	64	44	87	131	94 	27 	12 	4 	5
 	LW 	80	54	69	123	254	8 	19 	0 	4
 	RW 	77	42	45	87 	30 	12 	14 	0 	4
 	D 	77	21	56	77 	48 	33 	7 	2 	3
 	RW 	58	33	37	70 	78 	-16	16 	1 	4
 	RW 	70	32	37	69 	34 	12 	4 	0 	4
 	D 	54	10	54	64 	62 	4 	5 	0 	1
 	C 	70	21	33	54 	30 	-7 	5 	1 	2
 	LW 	78	19	16	35 	119	1 	0 	3 	1
 	RW 	19	14	16	30 	49 	12 	4 	1 	1
 	C 	63	11	18	29 	54 	-11	3 	1 	0
 	LW 	58	10	16	26 	58 	-6 	0 	1 	3
 	LW 	76	10	16	26 	127	-5 	0 	0 	1
 	D 	73	2 	22	24 	87 	19 	1 	0 	1
 	C 	56	3 	13	16 	16 	4 	0 	0 	1
 	D 	62	1 	14	15 	206	2 	1 	0 	1
 	C 	49	2 	8 	10 	4 	5 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	54	2 	8 	10 	62 	-8 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	38	5 	4 	9 	8 	-2 	1 	0 	0
 	D 	53	4 	5 	9 	104	-1 	0 	2 	2
 	D 	49	1 	7 	8 	36 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	44	1 	3 	4 	57 	7 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	57	0 	4 	4 	30 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	15	0 	4 	4 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	20	1 	2 	3 	34 	0 	0 	0 	1
 	D 	17	0 	1 	1 	35 	-8 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	1 	0 	0 	0 	2 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	50	0 	0 	0 	175	-6 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	5 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	9 	0 	0 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	18	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN 	GP	W 	L 	T	GA 	GAA 	SO	SA 	SV 	SV%
 	3329	57	25	22	9	196	3.53	1 	1702	1506	.885
 	838 	18	7 	6 	0	53 	3.79	0 	476 	423 	.889
 	448 	9 	5 	3 	0	31 	4.15	0 	202 	171 	.847
 	225 	5 	2 	1 	0	20 	5.33	0 	130 	110 	.846
Team: 	4840	80	39	32	9	300	3.72	1 	2510	2210	.880
===Playoffs===
;Scoring
Player	Pos	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	C 	15	16	18	34 	2 	8 	2 	5
 	LW 	21	13	15	28 	28 	4 	0 	3
 	C 	21	8 	19	27 	6 	2 	0 	2
 	RW 	21	11	13	24 	6 	2 	0 	4
 	RW 	14	6 	13	19 	24 	3 	0 	1
 	D 	21	6 	10	16 	19 	3 	0 	1
 	LW 	21	4 	5 	9 	32 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	19	2 	7 	9 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	21	1 	7 	8 	42 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	21	4 	3 	7 	8 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	21	3 	4 	7 	25 	2 	0 	0
 	RW 	9 	3 	1 	4 	4 	1 	0 	0
 	RW 	12	1 	3 	4 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	19	0 	4 	4 	6 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	14	3 	0 	3 	10 	0 	1 	0
 	D 	15	0 	3 	3 	12 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	7 	1 	1 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	19	0 	2 	2 	32 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	21	0 	2 	2 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	21	0 	2 	2 	16 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	21	0 	2 	2 	39 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	5 	1 	0 	1 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	5 	0 	0 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	10	0 	0 	0 	12 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN 	GP	W 	L	GA	GAA 	SO	SA 	SV 	SV%
 	1233	21	16	5	58	2.82	1 	622	564	.907
 	40 	1 	0 	0	4 	6.00	0 	16 	12 	.750
Team: 	1273	21	16	5	62	2.92	1 	638	576	.903
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals 
MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; SO = Shutouts; SA=Shots Against; SV=Shots saved; SV% = Save Percentage 
==Awards and Records==
Player 	Award
Phil Bourque 	Edward J. DeBartolo Community Service Award
Mario Lemieux	Bowser Pontiac Leading Point Scorer AwardBooster Club AwardFoodland Most Valuable Player AwardArt Ross Memorial TrophyNHL Second All-Star TeamConn Smythe Trophy
Troy Loney 	Edward J. DeBartolo Community Service Award
Joe Mullen 	Unsung Hero AwardPittsburgh Penguins Masterton NomineeMurray Hill Jewelers Player's Player Award
Larry Murphy 	Baz Bastien Memorial "Good Guy" Award
Jim Paek 	Michel Briere Memorial Rookie of the Year Award
Kevin Stevens	NHL First All-Star Team
==Transactions==
==Draft Picks==
Pittsburgh's draft picks at the 1991 NHL Entry Draft:
Round	# 	Player 	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1 	16 	Markus Naslund 	 	Modo Hockey (Sweden)
2 	38 	Rusty Fitzgerald	 	Duluth East High School (USHS)
3 	60 	Shane Peacock 	 	Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)
4 	82 	Joe Tamminen 	 	Virginia High School (USHS)
5 	104	Rob Melanson 	 	Hull Olympiques (QMJHL)
6 	126	Brian Clifford 	 	Nichols School (USHS)
7 	148	Ed Patterson 	 	Swift Current Broncos (WHL)
8 	170	Peter McLaughlin	 	Belmont High School (USHS)
9 	192	Jeff Lembke 	 	Omaha Lancers (USHL)
10 	214	Chris Tok 	 	Greenway, Minnesota High School (USHS)
11 	236	Paul Dyck 	 	Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
12 	258	Pasi Huura 	 	Ilves (Finland)
==Pittsburgh Penguins 1992 Stanley Cup Champions==
==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.
==References==
*SHRP Sports
*The Internet Hockey Database
*National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007
Category:Pittsburgh Penguins seasons
Category:1991 in hockey
Category:1992 in hockey