Lemieux sets Pens single-season point mark, 1986

In only his second season, Mario Lemieux set a new Penguin mark for points in a season, scoring an incredible 141 and shattering the previous mark of 111 set by Pierre Larouche in 1975-76.

He pulled past "Lucky Pierre" on February 24, 1986 in a wild 6-5 comeback overtime win against the L.A. Kings at the Igloo. After a disastrous first period that saw them down 4-0 at the buzzer, the Pens stormed back to make it 4-3, with Mario collecting two assists. The first tied the record, the second broke it.

Rookie Craig Simpson must have been inspired by Mario's show. He came out and netted a pair in the third before the Kings' Joe Paterson tied it at five at 9:42. 

Things stayed scoreless the rest of the way until, with just over a minute left in overtime, Lemieux sent an innocent-looking pass in front of the Kings' net, which deflected off winger Doug Shedden's skate, sending the Igloo into delirium and sending Number 66 another point past Larouche's old mark, for good measure.

Mike Meeker

Mike Meeker, Pittsburgh Penguin

The Penguins’ penchant for trading away draft choices in the late 70s hit its nadir in 1978, when the team was left with only three picks. To make matters worse for the franchise, those three picks ended up being busts, playing in only a total of five NHL games.

Mike Meeker accounted for four of them. Things looked promising enough for the nephew of Maple Leafs legend Howie Meeker, the 1947 winner of the Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year.

The Penguins drafted Meeker following an impressive 69-point junior year with the OHL's Peterborough Petes. Mike took home his own Rookie award in his first year of pro, when the right winger scored 65 points for the Binghamton Dusters of the American Hockey League.

That season, Meeker was called up to the Penguins for his four career NHL games, going pointless in them and earning five penalty minutes in a fight with the Flyers’ Rick MacLeish in his first game.

By early November of the next season, however, Meeker was put on the shelf for the remainder of the year with chronic back problems. That was it for Meeker in the NHL. He surfaced in Sweden for two years, scoring 52 points in 37 games for Karlskrona AIK.

This article details Meeker’s career in aquaculture in northern Ontario after his playing days came to an end.

Option Line explodes vs. Nordiques, Oct. 25/90

Bob Johnson moved the pieces of his top line around and the results were very much to the Penguins' liking. Shifting Mark Recchi over to right wing and John Cullen back to center, the duo, along with left wing Kevin Stevens, led the Pens to their first win on Igloo ice in four games. Stevens netted a hat trick while Cullen, on the strength of two assists, moved ahead of Wayne Gretzky for the NHL scoring lead with 21 points.

The Penguins scored on their first three shots, chasing Quebec goalie John Tanner. His replacement, Ron Tugnutt was welcomed by Stevens only 34 seconds after coming in with another shot that bulged the Nordique twine.

Johnson, however, saw room for improvement. "We've got to get sharper instead of being careless. We still do some things I shake my head at."

#91Pens Record: 3-4-1

Pens crumble late vs. Habs, Oct. 23/90

The Penguins continue to exhibit a good work ethic but the results are once again not the ones they want. Entering the third period trailing Montreal 3-2, Pittsburgh moved ahead late in the third on goals by Zarley Zalapski and Rob Brown, only to give up a pair to the Habs at 17:00 and 17:38.

"We have our breakdowns, and every team does," said Paul Coffey after the game. "It's just that ours come at the wrong time all the time."

- Pens Coach Bob Johnson

It is the Pens' third straight loss at home.

#91Pens Record: 3-5-1

Mullen Bros. Battle goes to Brian & Rangers, Oct. 20/90

It was the battle of the Mullen Brothers , this being the first matchup of the Rangers' Brian and the Pens' Joey in the Patrick Division. The Penguins fall behind 3-0 and don't start to claw back until the third, but claw back they do, with Joey making it 3-1 on the power play early in the third. We don't know what coach Bob Johnson may have said to his troops in the second intermission, but whatever the words were, they were effective.

John Cullen scored 11 seconds later, and Paul Coffey tied it at 12:14. The Igloo was rocking, but brother Brian stopped the party in its tracks with the winner at 16:43, when he deftly backhanded a rebound out of mid-air behind Tom Barrasso. This was the Pens' second loss in a row at home and the first game of the season in which LW Kevin Stevens was held pointless.

Oct. 19/90 – Penguins 4 @ Buffalo 4

The Pens rally from three one-goal deficits and come away with a point against the winless Sabres on the road. After taking a 4-3 lead, they let Mike Foligno slip behind the defense to beat Wendell Young at the side of the net with just under seven minutes to play. Foligno put another one into the Penguins’ cage a little while later but this one was waved off due to an offside call. 

Jaromir Jagr continues to impress, getting a goal and an assist. In a sight that would become quite familiar to Pens fans in the coming years, #68 took a pass just over the opponent’s blueline, flashed a number of dekes and buried a backhander past the goalie, in this case Darren Puppa. Coach Bob Johnson sounded a cautionary note afterwards regarding Jagr, however: “He showed a couple of flashes out there, but remember, he’s only 18. And this is only October.”

Oct. 16/90 – Philadelphia 5 @ Penguins 1

The game was played under a cloud of sorrow, with Flyers’ right winger Tim Kerr learning the day before that his wife had died of complications from childbirth. Kathleen Kerr had given birth to a healthy baby girl on October 6 but later developed a pelvic infection. 

“The best thing for us is to let our emotions get into the game,” said Flyers captain Rob Sutter. And that the Flyers did, rolling up a 4-0 lead through two periods and denying the Penguins on all seven of their powerplay chances. The Penguins held a moment of silence before the game. “Mr. [Craig] Patrick and the Pittsburgh Penguins showed a tremendous amount of class and respect with that they did,” said Sutter.