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"Twenty Years Later" is a segment with a highly unimaginative name which will appear on Empty Netters throughout the 2011-12 season. We will examine the Penguins' 1991-92 season which led to the second 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' 6-5 loss to the Whalers, Nov. 2, 1991.

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The Penguins lost the second game of a three-game homestand at the Civic Arena. Penguins left winger Kevin Stevens opened the scoring with a power-play goal 3:41 into the contest against goaltender Peter Sidorkiewicz. Assists went to defenseman Paul Coffey and center Mario Lemieux.

The Whalers responded less than two minutes later at 5:39 of the first period when center Bobby Holik scored an unassisted goal against goaltender Frank Pietrangelo.

Former Penguins center John Cullen scored at 6:58 to give the Whalers a 2-1 lead. Former Penguins right winger Rob Brown recorded the lone assist.

The Penguins tied the game, 2-2, late in the period at the 19:47 mark when Lemieux scored off assists from right winger Joe Mullen and Stevens.

Right winger Mark Hunter would regain the lead for Hartford, 3-2, with a power-play goal 1:57 into the second period. Assists went to center Andrew Cassels and defenseman Marc Bergevin.

The Whalers increased their lead to 4-2 when left winger Michel Picard scored off assists from Bergevin and Cassels.

Less than a minute later, Lemieux scored to make it 4-3. Mullen and defenseman Gordie Roberts had assists.

A shorthanded goal by right winger Mikael Andersson gave the Whalers a 5-3 lead at 11:21. Bergevin had the only assist.

Brown would score the eventual game-winning goal at 12:29 off assists from Cullen and anothe former Penguin, defenseman Zarley Zalapski.

At 12:22 of the third period, Stevens scored his second goal of the game to make it 6-4. Right winger Mark Recchi recorded the only assist.

Mullen scored the game's final goal at 14:18 off assists from Stevens and Coffey.

Note:

-Pietrangelo recorded the loss after making 14 saves.

-The three stars were: 1.) Bergevin 2.) Stevens 3.) Cullen.

-Pietrangelo was replaced by goaltender Wendell Young following Hartford's sixth goal.

-The Whalers snapped a four-game winless streak.

Statistics:

Player Position	Games Played	Goals	Assists	Points
Mario Lemieux, C	10	9	10	19
Kevin Stevens, LW	13	6	10	16
Paul Coffey, D	13	3	13	16
Joe Mullen, RW	13	6	9	15
Jaromir Jagr, RW	13	4	8	12
Mark Recchi, RW	13	4	6	10
Larry Murphy, D	13	2	8	10
Phil Bourque, LW	13	3	4	7
Bob Errey, LW	13	5	2	6
Bryan Trottier, C	13	3	2	5
Jiri Hrdina, C	11	1	4	5
Gordie Roberts, D	13	1	3	4
Troy Loney, LW	11	1	2	3
Ulf Samuelsson, D	11	0	3	3
Ken Priestlay, C	13	2	0	2
Paul Stanton, D	8	1	0	1
Grant Jennings, D	8	0	1	1
Jim Paek, D	10	0	1	1
Glenn Mulvenna, C	1	0	0	0
Jamie Leach, RW	2	0	0	0
Jeff Daniels, LW	2	0	0	0
Jay Caufield, RW	4	0	0	0
Ron Francis, C	4	0	0	0
Peter Taglianetti, D	9	0	0	0

Patrick Division standings:

	Record	Points
Capitals	11-3-0	22
Rangers	10-5-0	20
Devils	9-5-0	18
Penguins	5-6-2	12
Flyers	4-6-1	9
Islanders	3-7-2	8

Also in the news that day:

-Quarterback Darren Studstill threw for 197 yards and two touchdowns for West Virginia which beat Rutgers, 28-3, at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, W.Va.

(Photo: Penguins Hockey Cards)

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