Twenty Years Later: Penguins 5, Canucks 1 - 10-20-12
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 date they happened.
Today, we look at the Penguins' 5-1 win against the Whalers, Oct. 20, 1992.
The Penguins extended their unbeaten streak to seven games and won their fourth consecutive game. Defenseman Jim Paek put the Penguins up 1-0 with his first goal of the season just 4:05 into the game against goaltender Kirk McLean. Assists went to center Mario Lemieux and left winger Kevin Stevens.
At 15:18 of the first period, the Penguins took a 2-0 lead when right winger Jaromir Jagr scored off assists from right winger Shawn McEachern and center Ron Francis.
Shortly after that, the Canucks got on the scoreboard at 15:35 when center Petr Nedved beat goaltender Tom Barrasso. Left winger Geoff Courtnall and right winger Jim Sandlak were credited with assists.
Exactly two minutes later at 17:35, Lemieux scored on a power play to make it a 3-1 game. Defenseman Larry Murphy and Stevens had assists.
Late in the period at the 18:57 mark, McEachern scored another power-play goal off assists from Lemieux and Jagr.
After a scoreless second period, McEachern scored the game's final goal at 1:31 of the third period. Francis recorded the lone assist.
Notes:
-Barrasso made 23 saves in the win.
-With three points, Lemieux recorded multiple points in a game for the 300th time in his career.
Patrick Division standings:
| Record | Points | |
| Penguins | 5-0-2 | 12 |
| Rangers | 4-2-0 | 8 |
| Devils | 4-2-0 | 8 |
| Islanders | 3-3-1 | 7 |
| Flyers | 3-4-1 | 7 |
| Capitals | 3-3-0 | 6 |
Statistics:
| Player Position |
Games Played |
Goals | Assists | Points |
| Mario Lemieux, C | 7 | 8 | 14 | 22 |
| Kevin Stevens, LW | 7 | 9 | 9 | 18 |
| Jaromir Jagr, RW | 7 | 5 | 8 | 13 |
| Shawn McEachern, LW | 7 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| Ron Francis, C | 7 | 1 | 10 | 11 |
| Larry Murphy, D | 7 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Rick Tocchet, RW | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Bryan Fogarty, D | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Paul Stanton, D | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Kjell Samuelsson, D | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Ulf Samuelsson, D | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Mike Needham, RW | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Jim Paek, D | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Grant Jennings, D | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Troy Loney, LW | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Jay Caufield, RW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jamie Leach, RW | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jeff Daniels, LW | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Stapleton, C | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Tippett, C | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Also in the news that day:
-Pitcher Juan Guzman allowed one earned run in eight innings and helped the Blue Jays beat the Braves, 3-2, in Game 3 of the World Series at Toronto's Skydome. Toronto had a 2-1 series lead.
(Photo: Penguins Hockey Cards)