Twenty Years Later - Penguins 4, North Stars 1 - 11-10-12
"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' 4-1 win against the Minnesota North Stars, Nov. 10, 1992.
The Penguins wrapped up a three-game road trip at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minn. Center Ron Francis the Penguins a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal against goaltender Jon Casey 6:28 into the contest. Rookie center Martin Straka an rookie right winger Shawn McEachern recorded assists.
After a scoreless second period, McEachern scored the eventual game-winning goal 2:03 into the third period. Assists went to center Mario Lemieux and right winger Joe Mullen.
Right winger Ulf Dalhen scored Minnesota's only goal at the 6:21 mark against goaltender Ken Wregget. Center Mike Modano and right winger Mike Craig collected assists.
Shortly after that at 7:00, McEachern scored again on a power play off assists from Lemieux and Mullen.
Late in the game, Lemieux secured the win with an short-handed empty-net goal at 18:39. The goal was unassisted.
Notes:
-Wregget made 24 saves in the win.
-The three stars were: 1.) McEachern 2.) Wregget 3.) North Stars defenseman Craig Ludwig.
-Straka's assist was the first point of his NHL career.
-The North Stars lost at home for the first time all season.
Patrick Division standings:
| Record | Points | |
| Penguins | 12-3-2 | 26 |
| Rangers | 9-5-2 | 20 |
| Devils | 8-6-0 | 16 |
| Islanders | 6-8-1 | 13 |
| Capitals | 6-8-1 | 13 |
| Flyers | 4-8-3 | 11 |
Statistics:
| Player Position |
Games Played |
Goals | Assists | Points |
| Mario Lemieux, C | 17 | 22 | 25 | 47 |
| Kevin Stevens, LW | 14 | 15 | 18 | 33 |
| Jaromir Jagr, RW | 17 | 9 | 13 | 22 |
| Shawn McEachern, LW | 17 | 11 | 10 | 21 |
| Ron Francis, C | 17 | 3 | 17 | 20 |
| Rick Tocchet, RW | 15 | 9 | 10 | 19 |
| Larry Murphy, D | 17 | 4 | 13 | 17 |
| Ulf Samuelsson, D | 17 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| Joe Mullen, RW | 5 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Dave Tippett, C | 17 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Paul Stanton, D | 17 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Bryan Fogarty, D | 9 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Jim Paek, D | 17 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Kjell Samuelsson, D | 17 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Mike Stapleton, C | 17 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Mike Needham, RW | 14 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Jeff Daniels, LW | 17 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Troy Loney, LW | 16 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Bob Errey, LW | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Martin Straka, C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Grant Jennings, D | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Peter Ahola, D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jay Caufield, RW | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jamie Leach, RW | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Also in the news that day:
-Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Dennis Eckersley was awarded the American League Cy Young award.
(Photo: Penguins Hockey Cards)