Twenty Years Later - Penguins 7, Nordiques 4 - 12-21-12
"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' 7-4 win against the Quebec Nordiques, Dec. 21, 1992.
The Penguins won their fourth out of fifth game at the Civic Arena. Right winger Jaromir Jagr put the Penguins up 1-0 with a power-play goal against goaltender Stephane Fiset 11:05 into the game. Assists went to center Mario Lemieux and defenseman Ulf Samuelsson.
Just over three minutes later at 14:22, a goal by right winger Shawn McEachern put the Penguins up 2-0. Right winger Rick Tocchet and defenseman Larry Murphy picked up assists.
At 3:58 of the second period, a goal by left winger Kevin Stevens made it a 3-0 game. Right winger Joe Mullen and Lemieux collected assists.
Quebec got on the scoreboard at 7:16 when center Joe Sakic scored on a power-play against goaltender Tom Barrasso. Assists were credited to right winger Owen Nolan and center Mats Sundin.
The Penguins took a 4-1 lead when Murphy scored a short-handed goal at 9:15 off assists from Lemieux and defenseman Jim Paek.
Shortly after that, at the 9:26 mark, center Ron Francis scored to make it a 5-1 game. Stevens recorded the lone assist.
Murphy scored again on a power play at 13:23 to put the Penguins up 6-1. McEachern and Jagr had assists.
Tocchet scored the game's final goal at 15:43 on another power play off assists from Lemieux and defenseman Paul Stanton.
Sakic scored again at 3:26 of the third period to make it a 7-2 contest. Former Penguins right winger Scott Young and Nolan netted assists.
Defenseman Mikhail Tatarinov scored his first goal of the season on a power play at the 8:15 mark off assists from Sundin and Young.
The game's final goal was scored by center Claude Lapointe at 16:43. Left wingers Mike Hough and Bill Lindsay had assists.
Notes:
-Barrasso made 33 saves in the win.
-The three stars were 1.) Lemieux 2.) Murphy 3.) Sakic.
-Fiset was replaced by goaltender Ron Hextall after Tocchet's goal.
Patrick Division standings:
| Record | Points | |
| Penguins | 24-9-3 | 51 |
| Rangers | 18-12-4 | 40 |
| Capitals | 19-15-2 | 40 |
| Devils | 16-15-1 | 33 |
| Islanders | 14-16-4 | 32 |
| Flyers | 11-17-4 | 26 |
Statistics:
| Player Position |
Games Played |
Goals | Assists | Points |
| Mario Lemieux, C | 35 | 34 | 60 | 94 |
| Kevin Stevens, LW | 26 | 27 | 25 | 52 |
| Rick Tocchet, RW | 33 | 23 | 26 | 49 |
| Ron Francis, C | 36 | 11 | 34 | 45 |
| Jaromir Jagr, RW | 36 | 17 | 24 | 40 |
| Larry Murphy, D | 36 | 9 | 32 | 40 |
| Shawn McEachern, LW | 36 | 18 | 13 | 31 |
| Joe Mullen, RW | 24 | 8 | 15 | 23 |
| Ulf Samuelsson, D | 32 | 2 | 15 | 16 |
| Paul Stanton, D | 34 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| Jim Paek, D | 36 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Troy Loney, LW | 33 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Mike Needham, RW | 27 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Mike Stapleton, C | 35 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Dave Tippett, C | 29 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Jeff Daniels, LW | 36 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Bob Errey, LW | 21 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Bryan Fogarty, D | 12 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Kjell Samuelsson, D | 26 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Martin Straka, C | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Peter Ahola, D | 19 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Grant Jennings, D | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Jamie Leach, RW | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jay Caufield, RW | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Also in the news that day:
-Bengals offensive tackle Anthony Munoz, an 11-time Pro Bowl selection, announced he would retire at the end of the season.
(Photo: Penguins Hockey Cards)