1992 Stanley Cup Finals: Two Straight In The Steel City

The Pittsburgh Penguins were the defending Stanley Cup champions, but it hadn’t been a dominant year. The offense, led by Mario Lemieux was outstanding. With Lemieux scoring 44 goals and passing for 87 assists, the Penguins had the second-best offense in the NHL.  Kevin Stevens was a 50-goal scorer and Joe Mullen lit the lamp 42 times, giving Pittsburgh a well-balanced attack. But goaltending was a problem.

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Chicago was the opposite. The Blackhawks had no problems stopping the opposition, ranking 2^nd in the league in defense behind goaltender Ed Belfour, but they were a mediocre offensive team.

Jeremy Roenick could both score and pass, as his 53 goals/50 assists demonstrated, but if you stopped Roenick you stopped Chicago, as no help was forthcoming.

Both teams finished the regular season with 87 points. They were five teams in the NHL that acquired more, but the way the conference playoffs unfolded, there was no doubt about who was peaking at the right time.

It didn’t start out that way—in fact, the Penguins fell behind the Washington Capitals 3-1 in games in the first round. But they won three straight to win that series. Pittsburgh then fell behind 2-1 in the series to the New York Rangers, but again won three in a row to advance. Now they were in the groove and a conference finals sweep of the Boston Bruins sent Lemieux to his second straight Finals.

Chicago also fell behind in the first round, losing two of the first three games to the St. Louis Blues, but they righted the ship quickly. Three straight wins and advancement followed. Chicago then went barreling through the Detroit Red Wings, and the post-Wayne Gretzky Edmonton Oilers without a loss, sweeping both series.

The Blackhawks came to the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals with 11 straight wins. Pittsburgh had seven consecutive. Now it was about who could keep it going.

Two coaches who had, or would have Stanley Cup pedigrees elsewhere were on the sidelines. Scotty Bowman, one of the great minds to ever occupy an NHL bench, had won Cups in Montreal and had taken over this season for retired Bob Johnson in Pittsburgh. Mike Keenan, who would one day hoist the Cup with the Rangers in 1994, was coaching Chicago.

Mario Lemieux was, quite unsurprisingly the difference. He scored two goals in 5-4 win to open the series, and then got two more in Game 2, as Pittsburgh’s 3-1 win meant they had defended their home ice. The series shifted to the Windy City, and defense ruled. Stevens scored the game’s only goal in a 1-0 win that put the Penguins on the brink of a championship.

The victories in Games 2 & 3 underscored the improvement of Pittsburgh goalie Tom Barrasso in the playoffs. The 26-year-old netminder had allowed an average of 3.53 goals per game in the regular season, but against the tougher competition in the playoffs, his averaged dipped to 2.82. Barrasso’s showing in Games 2 & 3, particularly the latter, where he turned back 27 shots, was making Pittsburgh unbeatable.

Offenses opened back up in Game 4. Roenick had been held without so much as an assist for three games, but with the season on the line he scored twice. But Pittsburgh showcased a balanced attack and six different players scored. These included Lemieux and Stevens, and both also had two assists. Pittsburgh won the game 6-5. It was their second straight Stanley Cup and Lemieux was Conn Smythe MVP for the second consecutive year.