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.

1979 Playoffs: Pens take Game One from Sabres

Our look at the Penguins 1979 preliminary round playoff series against the Buffalo Sabres continues...

The Penguins of the late 70s and early 80s were never very rich in talent, but they often showed an impressive amount of determination and pride that carried them to some fine moments in the franchise's early history. A good example was Game One of the 1979 Preliminary Round series against the Buffalo Sabres.

The Sabres has finished three points ahead of the Pens in the regular season, earning them home ice advantage in the series. Pittsburgh entered the always-tough "Aud" in Buffalo without key injured players Pete Mahovlich, Russ Anderson, Wayne Bianchin and Dale Tallon. The Sabres twice built one-goal leads but the resilient Pens kept battling back. Riding the hot goaltending of Denis Herron, the team erased a 2-1 third-period deficit by exploding for three goals, including the winner by ex-Sabre Gary McAdam.

The Pens ability to overcome their injuries (they also lost forward Gregg Sheppard in the second when he his face was crushed into the boards on a Gerry (King Kong) Korab check) was "the sign of a good team," said blueliner Randy Carlyle in this game report from the next day's Pittsburgh Press. "You forget the injuries and just play hockey."

The Pens would now return to the comfortable confines of the Igloo to try to end the series in a sweep...

1929: Pirates crush Leafs, 10-5

Johnny McKinnon

The stock market had just crashed, but the Pittsburgh Pirates were flying high on November 19, 1929 against the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs. Led by defenceman Johnny McKinnon's four goals, the Pirates earned their first win of the season, decimating the Leafs 10-5 and evening their record at 1-1.

The impressive display prompted writer Bert P. Taggert to proclaim in his game report in the next day's Post-Gazette that "the form displayed by (coach) Freddie Frederickson and his cohorts presages a successful campaign."

Unfortunately, Bert could not have been further from the truth. The Pirates would win only four more times that year and be moved to Philadelphia to become the Quakers once the disastrous campaign finally came to a merciful end.

Pens beat Scouts in first meeting

Before the New Jersey Devils were the Devils, they were the Colorado Rockies. And before that, they were the Kansas City Scouts. KC entered the NHL as an expansion team in 1974-75 and lasted only two years before being sold and transferred to Denver. The Rockies enjoyed a bit more longevity before moving east to become the Devils in 1982.

The Penguins first faced off against the Devils franchise when they paid a visit to the recently completed Kemper Arena on November 5, 1974 to take on the Scouts. Kansas City was fresh off its first-ever win, a 5-4 triumph on the road against their even more inept expansion cousins, the Washington Capitals. Their record heading into the game stood at 1-8-1.

As this game report explains, the hapless Scouts played a struggling Pens team tight for 55 minutes until Ron Schock scored an unassisted goal to give Pittsburgh a 4-3 lead. Rick Kehoe added an empty netter at 19:54 to seal the win against future Penguin goalie Michel Plasse and the Scouts.

Penguins first win, October 13, 1967

The Penguins notched their first-ever win in their second-ever game, October 13, 1967. Former Pittsburgh Hornet Art Stratton netted the winner in a 3-1 win against the Blues in St. Louis. Stratton gathered in a rebound off a Keith McCreary shot and flipped it over goalie Seth Martin.

Read the game report from the following day.

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."