1991 Patrick Semi-Final, Game 6: Pens 4, Devils 3

With starting goalie Tom Barrasso unable to go after injuring his shoulder in Game 5 of their 1991 Patrick Division semi-final series, the Penguins turned to backup Frank Pietrangelo in a game that saw their season on the brink. Down three games to two, Pittsburgh would have to win in enemy territory to send it back to the Steel City for a decisive Game 7…or get their golf clubs shined up for a long summer.

 

Pietrangelo’s first NHL playoff game got off to a shaky start when a pass from behind his net by Devils winger John MacLean caromed off defenseman Larry Murphy’s skate and into his net at 3:29 of the first. Fortunately for the Pens, Mario Lemieux was clearly on his game this night, controlling the play whenever he stepped on to the ice. The Penguins kept their composure and tied the game on a Kevin Stevens snap shot at 10:49. Stevens then added a power play marker to give the Penguins the lead.

 

And then…it happened: “The Save.”

 

With the Devils pressing, Peter Stastny was ready to fire home what surely looked liked the tying goal, with the puck on his stick and half an empty net at which to shoot. Well, almost empty. There was Pietrangelo’s glove stretched out to cover a minute part of the gaping cage, and that’s just where Stastny put it.

 

The Devils had their sticks in the air. The Meadowlands crowd was already cheering. But there was no goal to celebrate, thanks to the backup’s incredible grab, still widely recognized as the greatest save in Penguins history.

 

“He hit my glove. It’s not a matter of a skill save, it’s a lucky save,” said a humble Pietrangelo later. He added, though, that “lucky or not, a save like that is a big lift for the team.”

 

From there, the Penguins built a 4-1 lead and held on for a gutsy 4-3 win. The Devils looked to have tied it late when Laurie Boschman directed the puck into the Pens net. The replay showed it went off his skate and then his stick, which would have been a legal goal. However, referee Bill McCreary had ruled it was directed in by Boschman’s skate and waved it off.

 

It was back to Pittsburgh for a winner-take-all Game 7.

1991 Patrick Semi-Final, Game 5: Devils 4, Pens 2

After a listless first two periods, the Penguins woke up in the third. Ron Francis scored his first playoff goal as a Pen and set up another within 2:47 to pull Pittsburgh even. They kept coming, only to be repelled by goalie Chris Terreri on a number of quality chances. When Randy Hillier was called for a questionable hold at 11:15, Claude Lemieux capitalized by tipping Kirk Muller’s pass into the Penguin cage. Doug Brown added an empty-netter to push the Pens to the brink.

Coach Bob Johnson maintained his usual optimistic outlook, however. “You can lose three games and still win the series. We’ve lost our three,” stated the Badger.

The players fed on their coach’s upbeat attitude, appearing to be focused on the task of going to New Jersey and starting to climb out of the hole they’d dug for themselves. “It doesn’t even have to be a pretty one,” said defenseman Larry Murphy about the upcoming Game Six. “We’ve just got to go in there and find a way.”

1991 Patrick Semi-Final Game 4: Devils 4, Pens 1

The Penguins lose the game and one of their best players on a night to forget at the Meadowlands. After the Devils had outhustled and outhit the Penguins for the first 44 minutes and built a 2-0 lead, Viacheslav Fetisov high-sticked Pens high-scoring D-man Paul Coffey, striking "the Doctor" in the left eye, causing him to temporarily lose his vision, according to Penguins trainer Skip Thayer.

After a visit to a real doctor, Coffey had regained some vision - albeit blurred - and was released. Fetisov was handed a five-minute major and a game misconduct. On the ensuing power play, Mario Lemieux's howitzer of a shot got the Pens back in the game.

But this night was the Devils', as John MacLean and that other Lemieux, Claude, scored later in the third to secure the victory and send the best-of-7 series back to Pittsburgh tied 2-2.

"I don't think we played a 60-minute game by any means," said Pens winger Bob Errey. "I hoped we learned our lesson. I hope we can find the right combinations to do the job at home."

1991 Patrick Semi-Final Game 3: Pens 4, Devils 3

Mark Recchi notches a goal in the final minute that surprises everyone and gives the Penguins a 4-3 win and a 2-1 series lead over the New Jersey Devils in their first round Patrick Division Semi-Final series. Winger Phil Bourque flipped the puck high into the corner of the Devils zone, where defenseman Eric Weinrich tried to grab it. Weinrich would have made a terrible outfielder because he muffed the grab and instead sent the puck to the slot, where Recchi was waiting.

"Larry Murphy did that once earlier this year and Johnny Cullen scored a goal on the play the same way, so we just call it the 'Murph Flip,'" Bourque told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "You never know what can happen on a play like that."

The Pens got a nice boost when sniper Joey Mullen returned to the lineup after neck surgery in January. Wearing a somewhat comical collar, he wasted no time doing what he did best, potting the Pens' third goal in the final frame. "I'm definitely rusty, but the goal gave me a big lift," he said.

1991 Patrick Semi-Final Gm 2: Pens 5, Devils 4

The Penguins overcome three one-goal deficits against the determined Devils and even the series on a spectacular goal by rookie Jaromir Jagr 8:52 into overtime. With his team being outshot 7-1 in the extra frame, Jagr came down the right wing in the Devils zone, cut in front of the net and held the puck with his long reach long enough to get goalie Chris Terreri to go down, before flipping the puck over him into the yawning cage. Game over, 5-4 Pens.

 

“For 19 years old, he sure showed a lot of patience with the puck,” commented Pens goalie Tom Barrasso. “Not too many guys could duplicate that play in that situation.”

 

The overtime almost didn’t take place. A shot from Brendan Shanahan from 25 feet out with 1:05 left in the third beat Barrasso – but not his best friend the goalpost. It was off to overtime and Jagr’s eventual heroics, which you can see here.

1991 Patrick Semi-Final - Gm 1: Devils 3, Pens 1

After a tight first period that saw neither team score, Mario Lemieux put the Pens in the lead midway through the second with a power play marker. Peter Stastny answered back for the Devils and the teams went to the locker room after two still tied. The third was all New Jersey, as Stastny and Laurie Boschman scored less than a minute apart early on.

"We better open our eyes," said Pens defenseman Paul Coffey in a quiet post-game dressing room. "We're playing a good hockey club. It's not like there were 15 or 20 points separating us this year. We better be ready to play (Game 2)."

Pat Boutette's first hat trick nets Pens first win

Pat Boutette

Pat Boutette broke in with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1975 and after four seasons was traded to Hartford. It was with the Whalers that the classy forward began making his mark as a highly dependable, if not somewhat under-the-radar, point-getter.

Boutette averaged nearly a point a game in a season and a half for the Whale. In the summer of 1981 he went to Pittsburgh with Kevin McClelland as compensation for the Whalers' signing of goalie Greg Millen.

He didn't miss a beat after joining the Penguins, scoring 74 points in 1981-82 and adding a goal and three assists in the Pens' thrilling five-game near upset of the Islanders in the first round of the playoffs. 

Boutette then suffered through the two leanest seasons in Penguins history as the team tumbled to the bottom of the NHL standings in 1983 and 1984. There were still some shining moments for Boutette, however, including his first career hat trick on October 12, 1982. 

With the Pens trailing the Vancouver Canucks by a goal with less than two minutes to play, Doug Shedden tied it with a slap shot. With the crowd of 6,566 going delirious, the Penguins kept coming. With 1:04 left, Boutette, who had scored two goals in the second period, deflected a Greg Hotham slap shot past goalie Richard Brodeur. He had his first hat trick and the Penguins had their first win of the season.

Early in the 1984-85 season, with his production tailing off, the Pens dealt Boutette back to Hartford for the rights to defenseman Ville Siren, who became a regular on the Pittsburgh blue line in the 80s. Unlike the Leafs, the Pens seemed to know when to part ways with Boutette; he had but 33 games left in him with the Whalers and a few more with their farm team before calling it a career.