1991–92 Pittsburgh Penguins | |
---|---|
Stanley Cup champions
|
|
Wales Conference champions
|
|
Division | 3rd Patrick |
Conference | 4th Wales |
1991–92 record | 39–32–9 |
Home record | 21–13–6 |
Road record | 18–19–3 |
Goals for | 343 (1st) |
Goals against | 308 (20th) |
Team information | |
General Manager | Craig Patrick |
Coach | Scotty Bowman |
Captain | Mario Lemieux |
Alternate captains |
Bob Errey Ron Francis Kevin Stevens Bryan Trottier |
Arena | Civic Arena |
Average attendance | 15,993 |
Team leaders | |
Goals | Kevin Stevens (54) |
Assists | Mario Lemieux (87) |
Points | Mario Lemieux (131) |
Penalties in minutes | Kevin Stevens (252) |
Wins | Tom Barrasso (25) |
Goals against average | Tom Barrasso (3.53) |
The 1991–92 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the Penguins' 25th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The team was coming off of its first-ever Stanley Cup victory in 1990–91, as they defeated the Minnesota North Stars in the Finals in six games. The Penguins, along with the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers, had five 30-goal scorers. Six players and three off-ice staff members from the 1991-92 team's year-end roster have been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
In the off-season, Head Coach Bob Johnson was diagnosed with brain cancer, forcing him to step down, where the Penguins would bring in former St. Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres head coach Scotty Bowman to replace Johnson. Bowman had previously led the Canadiens to five 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.
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 first in the Division. The team, along with Mario Lemieux, who missed time due to a back injury, 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 defenseman 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 , Kjell Samuelsson and Ken Wregget from Philadelphia for Mark Recchi, and the club would have a 12–5–1 record to close out the season, finishing in third place in the Division and making the playoffs for the second-straight season.