"Twenty Years Later" is a segment with a highly unimaginative name which will appear on Empty Netters throughout the 2012-13 season. We will examine the Penguins' 1992-93 season which led to the only President's Trophy in franchise history. The 1992-93 squad is commonly regarded as the most talented in the history of the Penguins. We will look back on games on the date they happened.

Today, we look at the Penguins' 5-2 win against the New Jersey Devils, April 4, 1993.

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The Penguins won their 14th consecutive game at Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. A power-play goal off a slap shot from the right circle by center Ron Francis against goaltender Chris Terreri gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead 13:25 into the game. Assists went to center Mario Lemieux and right winger Rick Tocchet.

Just 38 seconds into the second period, defenseman Larry Murphy scored a short-handed goal to make it a 2-0 contest. Francis and right winger Joe Mullen netted assists.

At the 7:14 mark, a power-play goal by Francis scored the eventual game-winning goal on another power play off assists from Tocchet and Lemieux.

Right winger Jaromir Jagr made it a 4-0 contest with a power-play goal off a wrist shot from the left circle at 15:22. Tocchet and Francis collected assists.

Late in the period at the 19:07, New Jersey finally got on the scoreboard when left winger Valeri Zelepukin scored his own power-play goal against goaltender Tom Barrasso. Defenseman Bruce Driver and right winger Claude Lemieux had assists.

The Devils made it a 4-2 game when right winger John MacLean scored the first even-strength goal of the contest 6:45 into the third period off assists from center Bernie Nicholls and defenseman Scott Stevens.

Mario Lemieux scored the game's final goal late in regulation on an empty net at the 19:41 mark. Jagr hade the only assist.

Notes:

-Barrasso made 30 saves in the win.

-The three stars were 1.) Francis 2.) Tocchet 3.) Mario Lemieux.

-With their 14th consecutive win, the Penguins moved within one game of tying the 1981-82 Islanders' NHL record of 15 wins.

-Mario Lemieux extended a scoring streak to 14 games.

-Penguins defenseman Ulf Samuelsson (back) and left winger Kevin Stevens (illness) missed the game. They were replaced by defenseman Grant Jennings and right winger Mike Needham.

Patrick Division standings:

	Record	Points
Penguins	53-21-6	112
Capitals	40-31-7	87
Devils	38-35-6	82
Islanders	37-34-6	80
Rangers	34-32-11	79
Flyers	30-37-11	71

Statistics:

Player Position	Games Played	Goals	Assists	Points
Mario Lemieux, C	56	62	88	150
Kevin Stevens, LW	69	53	53	106
Rick Tocchet, RW	76	44	55	99
Ron Francis, C	80	24	73	97
Jaromir Jagr, RW	75	33	54	87
Larry Murphy, D	79	21	60	81
Joe Mullen, RW	69	29	37	66
Shawn McEachern, LW	80	27	33	60
Ulf Samuelsson, D	71	2	24	26
Dave Tippett, C	70	5	17	22
Troy Loney, LW	77	5	15	20
Jim Paek, D	76	3	14	17
Paul Stanton, D	75	4	12	16
Martin Straka, C	35	3	12	15
Mike Needham, RW	54	8	4	12
Mike Stapleton, C	74	4	9	12
Kjell Samuelsson, D	60	3	6	9
Jeff Daniels, LW	54	4	4	8
Peter Taglianetti, D	7	1	4	5
Bryan Fogarty, D	12	0	4	4
Grant Jennings, D	54	0	4	4
Mike Ramsey, D	8	0	2	2
Jamie Leach, RW	5	0	0	0
Jay Caufield, RW	27	0	0	0

Also in the news that day:

-Driver Mario Andretti won the Vavoline 200 at the Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Ariz.

(Photo: Penguins Hockey Cards; Video: Jay Korber)

Penguins

-Dave Molinari's recap from last night's game. "Obviously, we know the right way to win and the way we did win. For the last two games, we haven't been even close to that level, that execution. And that needs to change." - Matt Cookes.

-Newsday's recap. "It's crazy, it was wild. And those guys [Brassard and Moore] got here just before warm-ups. It's what I was talking about with Brassard. Sometimes you just go play. I didn't expect to have that much offensive input the first game, but I didn't want to ease into it." - Rangers forward Ryan Clowe on the success he and teammates Derrick Brassard and John Moore had in their first game with the team.

-The New York Daily News' recap. "The guys came in, shook our hands and we went out and played." - Rangers forwad Brian Boyle on his new teammates.

-The Associated Press recap. "I thought the compete level from the Rangers and their game was very high, and we certainly didn't match it. It wasn't there. I think that was evident throughout." - Dan Bylsma speaks.

-Highlights:

-Tanner Glass versus New York's Arron Asham:

-A few good looks at the fight:

-Marc-Andre Fleury had a good look at this shot by New York's Ryan McDonagh:

-Happy times for Richards and Brassard:

-Richards got the better of his former Stars teammate Brenden Morrow here:

-Happy times in his new home for Moore:

-Welcome to New York Ryane Clowe:

-Dan Bylsma speaks:

-Jarome Iginla speaks:

-Brandon Sutter speaks:

-"I don't think I can try to be a player like Sidney Crosby. There's only one Sidney Crosby in the world." -  Jussi Jokinen on joining the Penguins.

-"It wasn’t about him or him as a player. It was about what we’re doing in going forward, payroll-wise." - Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford on trading Jokinen.

-Jokinen speaks:

-Ray Shero speaks:

-The Penguins assigned defenseman Simon Despres to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on paper to make him eligible for the AHL postseason.

-The Penguins signed defensive prospect Harrison Ruopp to a three-year entry-level contract. (PG+) Ruopp, 20, appeared in 65 games this season for the WHL's Prince Albert Raiders and scored 16 points (one goal, 15 assists) while recording 132 penalty minutes. Ruopp (6-foot-2, 198 pounds) was acquired at last year's draft in a deal which sent Zbyenk Michalek to the Coyotes.

-The Penguins traded goaltending prospect Patrick Killeen to the Blue Jackets in exchange for future considerations. (PG+) A sixth round pick in 2008, Killeen appeared in 35 games this season with Wheeling and Orlando of the ECHL this season.

-Happy 43rd birthday to former Penguins forward Mike Needham (right). A sixth-round pick in 1989, Needham spent parts of three seasons with the Penguins. Recalled by the Penguins from Muskegon of the IHL during the 1992 playoffs, appreared in five games for the Penguins during that Stanley Cup run and scored a goal as the franchise won its second championship. Needham formed the short-lived "Muskegon Line" with Jock Callendar and Dave Michayluk. Needham spent the bulk of the 1992-93 season in Pittsburgh and recorded 13 points in 56 games. During that spring's postseason, he saw action in nine games and scored one goal. The following season, he appeared in 25 games and scored one goal for the Penguins before being traded to the Stars in exchange for Jim McKenzie. In 81 regular season games with the Penguins, Needham recorded 14 points. In 14 postseason games, he scored two goals.

-Happy 39th birthday to former Penguins forward Lasse Pirjeta. Acquired at the 2004 trade deadline in a deal which sent Brian Holzinger to the Blue Jackets, Pirjeta spent parts of two seasons with the Penguins. Pirjeta finished 2003-04 by playing in 13 games and scoring 12 points for the Penguins. Following the 2004-05 lockout, Pirjeta appeared in 25 games for the Penguins in 2005-06 and scored seven points. Midway through the season, he was assigned to Kloten of the NLA in Switzerland. In 38 games with the Penguins, he recorded 19 points.

-After the jump: A busy trade deadline day.

Pitt's spring practices are coming to an end, with the 11th practice of the spring season today over on the South Side. Here are the notes and quotes from the day that was in Panther football...

- Tom Savage looked a lot sharper today. He seems to have some good timing down on a post route and threw a couple of beautiful corner touchdown passes to Ronald Jones, who has also come on since returning from injury earlier this spring.
"I thought for a while he was holding on to the ball," Pitt coach Paul Chryst said. "It kind of goes without saying, when a quarterback's in rhythm, he's got a better chance and one of the things that cause you to not be in rhythm are the quarterbacks not understanding something, the quarterback getting fooled on a coverage or a receiver off on what he should be doing. I think a couple plays specifically, I think he learned from Tuesday and was able to think a little bit better."

- Malcolm Crockett returned from injury at the running back spot today. He backed up new No. 1 back Isaac Bennett. While Bennett has a big opportunity now that Rushel Shell is gone, Chryst said he hasn't approached practice any differently than before.
"I think all the guys are eager," Chryst said. "I don't think Isaac's changed any. I really don't. I think he comes in and he tries to work. He's not all of a sudden changing who he is, and that's good. He wasn't a guy that I thought slacked before."
We spoke to running backs coach Desmond Robinson after practice, and he laid out exactly what he was looking for from the running backs this spring. Specifically, Robinson was most focused on what the running backs are doing when they aren't getting carries.
"I think the greatest thing I see from Isaac this spring is his effort when the ball is not in his hands, and that's what we've been putting a lot of emphasis on," Robinson said. "I want to see guys downfield blocking, downfield with an effort to teammates. Because that's the sign of a great player, when they can play hard when that ball's not in their hands."
Robinson also said they've been working with Bennett on his vision at the line, which has been much improved this season.
"We want him to be a little more patient and create the hole," Robinson said. "He's doing a better job of creating the hole and then using his acceleration to get through it afterwards. That's been something that we've emphasized for a year and I'd say right now, he's doing that better than we had anybody to it last year."

- I wrote a little bit earlier this week about Gabe Roberts adjusting to the center position, and we spoke to him today about the topic. He said coaches approached him last season about the move, and he spent time snapping as he recovered from a torn labrum. He said the biggest problem was learning to recognize everything the centers have to pick up, including blitzes and pass rushes.
"It's more difficult," Roberts said. "I was in the film room a lot over the winter, just trying to study what I can. It looks easy on film, but when you get out there it's like you lose peripheral vision."
Roberts' shotgun snaps have gotten noticably better since the beginning of spring camp. He missed one under-center exchange with Savage today because, as he explained it, he hit himself in his, um, "manhood" on the snap.

- Tyone Ezell spoke a little after practice about how the technique of the defensive line has changed this year under new defensive coordinator Matt House. Specifically, Ezell said the linemen are taught to play more square this year, whereas last year they were supposed to dip their shoulder and get upfield. My first inclination is that this puts more of an emphasis on defensive linemen occupying blocks, rather than making plays, and let the linebackers make the tackes.
"It's a huge difference from last year," Ezell said. "Here, they want our shoulder pads to stay more square and attack the center or guard, play up on two gaps."

There you have it. Pitt has a scrimmage tomorrow at Heinz Field, but that session is closed to the media, so we won't get another look at practice until next week, the final week of 2013 spring ball.