Pens bow to Habs, March 1979

The Penguins were riding a 10-game unbeaten streak when they headed into the Montreal Forum to take on the Canadiens on March 31, 1979. The last time Pittsburgh had played in that building they'd suffered the worst defeat in franchise history, getting blown out by a score of 12-0. On this night, the team was intent on showing the Habs and the hockey world that they were better than that.

Guy Lafleur scored his 50th goal of the season
March 31, 1979 against the Penguins.

Despite outshooting the mighty Montrealers 32-31, however, the Penguins once again came out on the short end of the scoreboard, losing this time by the much more respectable score of 5-3, as this game report from the Pittsburgh Press explains.

Canadiens superstar Guy Lafleur notched his 50th goal of the season in the game, the fifth consecutive year he had reached that lofty level. He scored it on Denis Herron, who had also surrendered Lafleur's 50th goal in two of the other seasons. "I think he was waiting for me to get number 50," Herron told the Montreal Gazette after the game. "At least I'll have my name in the record book again."

1979 Playoffs: Ferguson wins it for the Pens in OT

The Penguins headed into the third period of the decisive third game of their 1979 Preliminary Round series against the Buffalo Sabres trailing 3-2. The hometown Sabres threw everything they had at Pens goalie Denis Herron in the third, piling up a whopping 18 shots, but couldn't get anything behind the Pittsburgh goalie. The only rubber that hit any twine during the frame was at the other end, when George Ferguson knocked in a Jacques Cossette rebound at the 4:17 mark to tie things up.

But Ferguson's heroics hardly ended there.

The puck had barely dropped on the first overtime period when Fergy corraled it near center ice. "I noticed the left side of the rink was open," he told the Pittsburgh Press in this report, "so I just took off and when I thought I could score I just let it fly."

The puck flew right into the back of the net, giving the Penguins their first playoff series win in four years and only the third in franchise history. You can view a video of Ferguson's winner here.

It should be noted that Ferguson would not have had a chance to be the hero if it weren't for the impressive display by rookie defenseman Jim Hamilton, who scored two goals. Drafted by the Pens in 1977, Hamilton would spend his career shuttling between the big club and the minors, totalling 95 NHL games and 32 points. He played in six playoff games, too, but a finer moment than this one in an NHL rink he never had.

Ferguson would play three more full seasons with the Pens, never scoring less than 21 goals, before being traded to the Minnesota North Stars early in the 1982-83 season.

1979 Playoffs: Sauve helps Sabres even things up

Denis Herron thwarts a Sabre attack as
defenseman Tom Bladon arrives to help.

After their impressive road win in Game 1 of their 1979 preliminary round series against the Buffalo Sabres, the Penguins returned to the Igloo for Game 2 in front of the largest playoff crowd in the team's history - 16,033 cheering, stomping fans. Unfortunately for them and the team, Buffalo's young goaltender Bob Sauve turned in a 30-save performance to help his team come away with a 3-1 win and even the series. Sauve rebounded from a performance in the opener that he confessed was not his best.

"I was really uptight in that first game," he told the Pittsburgh Press in this game recap. "I don't think I ever relaxed in it. Tonight I was loose all the way."

His counterpart at the other end of the rink was impressed. "He came up with some fantastic saves," said Denis Herron. "I guess you could say the first game was my hot game and this one was his. Now it's my turn again."

The series would be decided the next day, a Saturday, in an afternoon game at Buffalo's venerable  Memorial Auditorium.

Pens meet Sabres in 1979 playoffs

Here's the first in a series of posts that will look at the Penguins 1979 preliminary round playoff series against the Buffalo Sabres...

The Penguins returned to the playoffs in 1979 after having been left out of the dance the previous year. At this point in the NHL's history the first round of the playoffs was a short and sweet best-of-three series. The Penguins opponent was the Buffalo Sabres, who finished three points better than Pittsburgh's 85, giving them home ice advantage.

On the eve of Game One at the venerable Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, the Beaver Valley Times offered up this article previewing the tilt, which detailed some of the Pens' injury woes. Notably, defencemen Dale Tallon and Russ Anderson were not available for the game. Starting goalie Denis Herron didn't seem worried by that: "We've played Buffalo before with injuries and it didn't seem to matter. The only thing that worries me is that this is the playoffs. That makes a big difference."

Pens tie high-flying Habs - February 1977

On February 16, 1977, Montreal came to town and the game was quickly shaping up to be your standard 1970s Canadiens-Penguins tilt: two quick goals by the Flying Frenchmen and an apparent blowout on the horizon. But for some strange reason, Pittsburgh decided to start playing. 

Pierre Larouche

Thirteen seconds after Pens goaltender Denis Herron let a bad one dribble by him to give Montreal their 2-0 lead, Rick Kehoe and Pierre Larouche broke in on a two-on-one. Kehoe used his teammate as a decoy and beat Ken Dryden cleanly. By the time the horn rang, the Penguins had built an improbable 3-2 lead, the last goal coming on another Larouche-Kehoe rush, with Pierre this time pulling the trigger. 

The teams traded goals in the second, giving the Penguin fans hope that the team might actually capture its first win against the Habs in their last 10 tries. Guy Lafleur, however, had other ideas. The superstar came into the Penguins zone on the right side early in the third and surprised Herron with a rocket of a shot, low on the stick side. 

There was no quit in the Penguins on this night, though, and it was only the incredible goaltending of Ken Dryden down the stretch that enabled the Canadiens to leave the Igloo with a point.

Pens clobber expansion Isles, 9-1

Apps got his first hat trick
against the Isles, not the Seals.

The Penguins were flying high against the expansion New York Islanders on December 13, 1972, skating away with a 9-1 victory at the Igloo. It was a banner night for Syl Apps, Jr., who set a team record with six points, half of those coming in the form of his first career hat trick.

Rookie goalie Denis Herron narrowly missed his second straight shutout against the Isles, giving up a goal with only four ticks left on the clock.

Read the game report from the next day's Post-Gazette.

Pens drop puck on 1977-78 campaign with win over Blues

The Penguins got the 1977-78 season off to a good start by extending their NHL record opening night winning streak to seven with a 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues before 11,663 at the Civic Arena. 

"(Denis) Herron made some brilliant saves and I thought Ron Stackhouse was outstanding," said coach Johnny Wilson after notching his first win behind the Penguin bench. See the full game report from October 13, 1977.

Herron saves the day vs. Rangers - Oct 19/77

October 19 , 1977 - Goalie Denis Herron stands on his head to help the Pens take a point out of the Big Apple. GM Baz Bastien compares putting and goaltending after the performance.