1990–91 Pittsburgh Penguins season



The 1990–91 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the Penguins 24th season in the NHL. The Penguins finished 1st in the Patrick Division and defeated the Minnesota North Stars in the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals 4 games to 2.

Off-season
In the off-season, General Manager Craig Patrick, who finished the previous season coaching the club, named Bob Johnson as the new head coach of the Penguins. Patrick also named Scotty Bowman as his director of player development and recruitment. Johnson had previously been the head coach of the Calgary Flames from 1982–87. The team also acquired veteran Bryan Trottier, who helped lead the New York Islanders to 4 straight Stanley Cups from 1980–83, to help out with his leadership abilities.

Regular Season
The Penguins began the season without Mario Lemieux, as he missed the first half of the season recovering from a back injury that he suffered in a game against the New York Rangers on February 14, 1990, which caused him to miss the rest of the 1989–90 season.

Pittsburgh began the season slow, and in their opening 31 games, the team had a 12–16–3, good for 27 points, and 9 points out of a playoff spot. As the season progressed, the team began playing better, had Mario Lemieux return to the lineup, and Patrick made some trades, acquiring defenceman Larry Murphy from the Minnesota North Stars and Scott Young from the Hartford Whalers. The Penguins eventually came into playoff contention, and on March 4, when the team had a 32–30–4 record, sitting in 3rd place in the division, the club pulled off a blockbuster deal with the Whalers, trading John Cullen, Zarley Zalapski, and Jeff Parker to Hartford for Ron Francis, Ulf Samuelsson, and Grant Jennings. The deal helped the Penguins finish the season off 9–3–2, and win their first ever Division championship, finishing 3 points ahead of the 2nd place New York Rangers.

With Mario Lemieux missing the majority of the season due to his back injury, Mark Recchi stepped up, and had a breakout season, scoring a team high 40 goals and 73 assists for 113 points. Kevin Stevens would tie Recchi for the team lead in goals with 40, and add 46 assists for 86 points. Rookie Jaromír Jágr had a solid season, scoring 27 goals and earning 57 points, while Lemieux recorded 19 goals and 45 points in only 26 games. Paul Coffey led the defense with 93 points in 76 games. The 342 goals the Penguins scored was the 2nd highest toal in the league, only 2 goals less than the Calgary Flames

In goal, Tom Barrasso had the majority of playing time, winning a team high 27 games and posting a 3.59 GAA, along with a shutout. Frank Pietrangelo appeared in 25 games, finishing with a 10–11–1 record and a 3.94 GAA.

Game Log
See also 1990–91 Pittsburgh Penguins: Head-to-Head Results

Pittsburgh Penguins 4, New Jersey Devils 3
In the playoffs, the Penguins would open up against the New Jersey Devils, who finished the year in 4th place in the division, 9 points behind Pittsburgh. The teams split the opening 2 games in Pittsburgh, and then split the 2 games in New Jersey, before the Devils won game 5 at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena to take a 3–2 series lead back home. The Penguins responded with a hard fought 4–3 victory in game 6 to bring it back home for game 7, where Pittsburgh completed the comeback with a 4–0 shutout to win the series.

Pittsburgh Penguins 4, Washington Capitals 1
Up next was the Washington Capitals, and Washington would surprise the Penguins with a 4–2 victory in the opening game, however, Pittsburgh tied the series up in game 2 with a 7–6 overtime victory. The Pens would go into Washington for games 3 and 4, and post back-to-back 3–1 wins to go up 3–1 in the series, and finish off Washington in the 5th game to clinch the series and advance to the Conference Finals for the 1st time in team history.

Pittsburgh Penguins 4, Boston Bruins 2
The Penguins next opponent was the Boston Bruins, the defending Wales Conference champions, and the Bruins, who finished with 100 points, had home ice for the series. Boston would take control of the series early by winning the opening 2 games in Boston, however, the Penguins responded by winning the next 2 in Pittsburgh to even up the series. Pittsburgh would return to Boston for the 5th game, and surprise the Bruins with a 7–2 victory, going up 3–2 in the series and returning home for the 6th game. The Penguins finished off Boston in the 6th game, winning the Prince of Wales Trophy and going to the Stanley Cup finals for the 1st time in team history.

Pittsburgh Penguins 4, Minnesota North Stars 2
Pittsburgh faced the surprising Minnesota North Stars in the Stanley Cup finals. While the North Stars had a 27–39–14 record during the regular season, they had been red hot in the playoffs, defeating the President's Trophy winners Chicago Blackhawks, the St. Louis Blues and the defending Stanley Cup champions Edmonton Oilers to reach the finals. Minnesota would continue their hot streak with a 5–4 victory in game 1, however, the Penguins tied the series up in game 2 as the series shifted from Pittsburgh to Minnesota. The North Stars won game 3 with solid goaltending, but the Penguins rebounded in game 4 to tie it back up as they returned to Pittsburgh. Game 5 was a close, hard fought game, with the Penguins winning 6–4 to take a 3–2 series lead, and in game 6, the Pittsburgh Penguins would pummel the North Stars 8–0 to win the series, and the first-ever Stanley Cup in club history. Mario Lemieux, recording 44 points in 23 games, won the Conn Smythe Trophy.


 * Green background indicates win
 * Red indicates loss.

Regular Season

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Playoffs

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals

MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; SO = Shutouts; SA=Shots Against; SV=Shots saved; SV% = Save Percentage

Draft Picks
Pittsburgh's draft picks at the 1990 NHL Entry Draft

Farm Teams
The IHL's Muskegon Lumberjacks finished in fourth place in the East Division with a record of 38-40-5. They lost to the Kalamazoo Wings in the first round of the playoffs 4-1.

The East Coast Hockey League's Knoxville Cherokees won the Henry Brabham Cup as the team with the league's most outstanding record (46-13-5). They were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Louisville Icehawks. Don Jackson was named coach of the year, Stan Drulia was named league MVP and was leading scorer, and Daniel Gauthier was the league rookie of the year.