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Wednesday, 25 May 2011 10:00

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

"Twenty Years Later" is a segment with a highly unimaginative name which will appear on Empty Netters throughout the 2010-11 season is appearing for the final time this season. We will examine the Penguins' 1990-91 season which led to the first Stanley Cup title in franchise history. We will look back on games on a particular date and catch up with former players, coaches, executives and media members who were a part or around that team.

Today, we look at the Penguins' 8-0 defeat of the North Stars in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, May 25, 1991.

The Penguins won the first Stanley Cup title in franchise history with a shutout at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minn. Just two minutes into the game, defenseman Ulf Samuelsson scored the eventual Cup-clinching goal against goaltender Jon Casey with a wrist shot from the left point on a power play. Assists went to center Bryan Trottier and former North Stars defenseman Peter Taglianetti.

Just over 10 minutes later at the 12:19 mark, center Mario Lemieux scored a backhanded shorthanded goal to make it 2-0. Another former North Stars defenseman, Larry Murphy, recorded the lone assist.

Less than a minute later at 13:14, a power-play goal by Joe Mullen increased the lead to 3-0 by cleaning up a rebound in the left circle. Taglianetti and left winger Kevin Stevens were credited with assists.

At 13:15 of the second period, left winger Bob Errey scored by crashing in on goaltender Brian Hayward to make it 4-0 off assists from rookie right winger Jaromir Jagr and Lemieux.

Just over a minute later at the 14:28 mark, a breakaway goal by center Ron Francis increased the lead to 5-0. Mullen recorded the only assist.

Mullen scored again on another breakaway at the 18:44 mark to give the Penguins a 6-0 lead. Stevens and Samuelsson were credited with assists.

Just 1:29 into the third period, rookie defenseman Jim Paek scored his first career goal of a two-on-one with Lemieux and gave the Penguins a 7-0 lead. Lemieux had the only assist.

Murphy capped off the scoring at the 13:45 mark with a power-play goal of a backhander against Casey. Once again, Lemieux had the only assist.

Postgame:

Notes:

-Barrasso made 39 saves in the win. It was his first career playoff shutout.

-Lemieux won the Conn Smythe Award as playoff MVP. He lead all playoff scorers with 44 points, second-most in NHL history.

-Trottier won the Cup for the fifth time in his career.

-Trottier's assist was the 110th of his playoff career and tied him with Jari Kurri for third most all-time.

-Stevens finished the postseason with 17 goals, two short of the NHL record of 19.

-The Penguins became the first time since the 1971 Montreal Canadiens to win the Stanley Cup after missing the playoffs the previous season.

-Bob Johnson became the second United State-born coach to win the Stanley Cup. The other was Bill Stewart with the 1938 Blackhawks.

-The players, coaches and staff listed on the Stanley Cup for the 1991 championship are:

Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. (Owner), Marie D. DeBartolo York (President), Paul Martha (Vice president/General counsel), Craig Patrick (General manager), Scotty Bowman (Director of player development and recruitment), Bob Johnson (Head coach), Rick Kehoe, Rick Paterson, Barry Smith (Assistant coaches), Gilles Meloche (Goaltending coach/Scout), Steve Latin (Equipment manager), Skip Thayer (Trainer), John Welday (Strength and conditioning coach), Greg Malone (Scout), Mario Lemieux (Captain), Paul Coffey, Randy Hillier, Bob Errey, Tom Barrasso, Phil Bourque, Jay Caufield, Ron Francis, Randy Gilhen, Jiri Hrdina, Jaromir Jagr, Grant Jennings, Troy Loney, Joe Mullen, Larry Murphy, Jim Paek, Frank Pietrangelo, Barry Pederson, Mark Recchi, Gordie Roberts, Ulf Samuelsson, Paul Stanton, Kevin Stevens, Peter Taglianetti, Bryan Trottier, Scott Young, Wendell Young.

Playoff statistics:

Also in the news that day:

-A two-run home run by first baseman Orlando Merced in the 11th inning gave the Pirates a 4-2 win against the Phillies at Three Rivers Stadium.

(Note: We would like to thank Jay Korber for providing videos through his tremendous pensgoals YouTube channel throughout the season.)

(Photo: Post-Gazette archives)

Comments (4)

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written by Kibab1979, May 25, 2011 - 10:16 AM

Seth - Great job throughout the season with these recaps. Brought back a lot of memories. I hope you will do it again next season for the 92 championship season.

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written by Boom Shaka, May 25, 2011 - 11:07 AM

Definitely looking forward to next year's recap of the second Stanley Cup!

Not to mention your usual excellent coverage or the Pens!

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written by cappster, May 25, 2011 - 11:53 AM

Yes! Please do this again next year. (Easy for us to suggest...we're not doing the work!) It was a great feature and brought back some wonderful memories. The Looking Back interviews were fantastic.

And hey...why not one more entry this year...the day of the celebration in Point State Park.

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written by gmuny2002, May 26, 2011 - 02:00 AM

"Let's take this baby out on the river and party all summer!" - Phil Borque

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