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.

Oct. 13/90 – Penguins 6 @ NY Islanders 4

Bryan Trottier returns to Long Island as a visiting player and collects an assist in the Penguins’ 6-4 win. The Pens fell behind 2-0 but rallied with the next four goals to take command of the game. Trottier, who received a warm welcome from the crowd of 14,903, had to leave the game in the second period with a bruised toe. Kevin Stevens led the Pens attack with a goal and an assist, giving him a league-leading 14 points.

Oct. 11/90 - Penguins 1 @ Chicago 4

The Blackhawks came out storming with 11 shots to the Penguins’ zero during the game’s first seven minutes. “We knew they’d come out like that…I call it a gang attack,” said Pens coach Bob Johnson. Pretty apt, considering the Stadium’s location on the south side of Chicago. Goalie Tom Barrasso did his best under the barrage, managing to hold the Hawks to a 2-0 lead on goals by Jeremy Roenick. 

Kevin Stevens answered in the second as the Pens settled down defensively. Roenick, however, completed his hat trick at 14:03 of the third period when he batted a puck out of the air behind Barrasso. That was all she wrote for the Penguins on this night. “It’s our job to get better, and we were close tonight. But it’s not going to happen overnight,” said a patient Badger Bob after the game.

Oct. 9/90 – Penguins 3 @ St. Louis 4

With the game tied late in the third, Pens rookie defenseman Paul Stanton made a mistake. “It’s something you learn when you’re five years old., that you don’t make plays like that. I’ll be surprised if I play again.”

The play in question was throwing the  puck up the middle of your own zone. Such clearing attempts more often than not end in disaster, and this one certainly did. Blues center Adam Oates picked off the pass and fed it to Geoff Courtnall, who tipped it into the Penguins’ twine for a 4-3 St. Louis lead with just over five minutes to play.

Oct. 7/90 – New Jersey 4 @ Penguins 7

The scoring parade of the Washington game continued two nights later during the Penguins’ home opener against the Devils, which they won by the same 7-4 count. The sellout crowd of 16,164 rocked the Civic Arena foundations as the Pens put four goals behind Chris Terreri in a span of 2:27 in the third period to pull away and move to 2-0. The forces of young and old were on display, with veteran Bryan Trottier scoring his first two as a Penguin and rookie Jaromir Jagr getting his first.

1990-91 Record: 2-0-0