Twenty Years Later: Penguins 7, Islanders 3 - 10-08-12
"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 day they happened.
Today, we look at the Penguins' 7-3 win against the Islanders, Oct. 8, 1992.
The Penguins won their first game of the season at the Civic Arena. New York jumped out to a 1-0 lead when left winger Bill Berg scored against goaltender Tom Barrasso just 2:47 into the game. Center Tom Fitzgerald and left winger Brian Mullen netted assists.
Right winger Rick Tocchet scored a power-play goal by cleaning up a loose puck against goaltender Mark Fitzpatrick late in the first period at 17:08 to tie the game, 1-1. Left winger Kevin Stevens and center Mario Lemieux recorded assists.
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At 5:44 of the second period, defenseman Jeff Norton regained the lead for the Islanders, 2-1 with a goal off assists from right winger Steve Thomas and center Ray Ferraro.
Shortly after that at the 6:03 mark, defenseman Larry Murphy backhanded his own rebound and scored his first goal of the season to tie the game again, 1-1. Assists went to right winger Jaromir Jagr and Lemieux.
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New York took another lead, 3-2, when center Pierre Turgeon scored on a power play off assists from defenseman Tom Kurvers and Thomas.
The Penguins tied the game again, 3-3, when defenseman Paul Stanton lifted a wrister over the glove hand of Fitzpatrick from the right circle. Lemieux and Stevens were credited with assists.
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A goal off a three-on-one by Jagr just 2:20 into the third period proved to be the game-winning score. The only assist was recorded by Murphy.
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At the 8:38 mark, Lemieux scored off with a backhanded wraparound off an assist from defenseman Kjell Samuelsson to make it a 5-3 game.
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Lemieux scored again at 11:44 off a two-one-one to give the Penguins a 6-3 lead. Jagr and defenseman Grant Jennings picked up assists.
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The game's final goal was scored by left winger Shawn McEachern at the 14:34 mark. Assists went to center Ron Francis and defenseman Ulf Samuelsson.
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Notes:
-Barrasso made 25 saves in the victory.
-Prior to the game, the Penguins celebrated their Stanley Cup championship from the 1991-92 season and raised the banners for winning the Patrick Division in the playoffs, the Wales Conference and the Stanley Cup.
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-McEachern scored the first regular season goal of his career.
Patrick Division standings:
| Record | Points | |
| Penguins | 1-0-1 | 3 |
| Devils | 1-0-0 | 2 |
| Capitals | 1-0-0 | 2 |
| Flyers | 0-0-1 | 1 |
| Rangers | 0-0-0 | 0 |
| Islanders | 0-2-0 | 0 |
Statistics:
| Player Position |
Games Played |
Goals | Assists | Points |
| Mario Lemieux, C | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Kevin Stevens, LW | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Rick Tocchet, RW | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Jaromir Jagr | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Larry Murphy, D | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Ron Francis, C | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Ulf Samuelsson, D | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Shawn McEachern, LW | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Paul Stanton | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Grant Jennings, D | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Kjell Samuelsson, D | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Jeff Daniels, LW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jamie Leach, RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Troy Loney, LW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Needham, RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Paek, D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Stapleton, C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Tippett, C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Also in the news that day:
-Pitcher David Cone allowed one earned run and recorded six strikeouts in eight innings for the Blue Jays who defeated the Oakland Athletics, 3-1, in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series. The series was tied, 1-1.
(Photo: Penguins Hockey Cards; Videos: Jay Korber)