Pens Clinch 1992 Cup in Chicago

The Penguins of 1991-92 could play the game any way you wanted.

Fast. Offensive. Mean. Rough. Defensive. Free-Wheeling. Structured.

For opponents, it was literally "pick your poison."

Perhaps the two best examples of that were Games 3 and 4 of the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals against the Chicago Blackhawks which re-air Wednesday and Friday on AT&T SportsNet as part of "Penguins Classic Rewind."

Game 3 (Wednesday at 7 p.m.) was a tense, tight defensive battle as the Penguins rode Kevin Stevens' first period goal and Tom Barrasso's 27 saves to edge the Hawks, 1-0, and take a commanding 3-0 series lead.

Game 4 (Friday at 7 p.m.) was a wild 11-goal shootout, with chances coming in bunches, and it wasn't settled until Barrasso turned back the surging Hawks in the final seconds for a Cup-clinching 6-5 win at Chicago Stadium.

Any style. Any way.

"The 1992 team was somehow able to strike a balance between their naturally explosive offense and a sound, conscientious defensive style," said Paul Steigerwald, one of the team's broadcasters. "It started in the first round against Washington, when they were forced to become more passive defensively, and they got comfortable with it as the playoffs went on. By the time they reached the Chicago series in the finals, they had perfected it.

"They had so much offensive talent that they couldn't be outscored in a shootout, and when they needed to revert to shutdown mode, as they did a couple times in the finals with superior goaltending and defensive teamwork. It also helped that they couldn't be physically intimidated. (GM) Craig Patrick had built a heck of a team."

The Penguins had been challenged severely in Game 1 of the finals at the Civic Arena, as Chicago jumped out to leads of 3-0 and 4-1 before an amazing Pittsburgh comeback set the tone for the rest of the series. Jaromir Jagr tied the game, 4-4 with a series of spectacular moves at 15:05, and Mario Lemieux snapped in the game-winner off a Larry Murphy rebound with 13 seconds remaining.

Game 2 was a completely different style, with the Hawks ramping up the physical play, but two goals by Lemieux and a short-handed effort by Bob Errey gave the Penguins a 3-1 win and a 2-0 series lead.

The two teams then headed west for the raucous atmosphere of Chicago Stadium, and Game 3 was a much more traditional pace for the Stanley Cup Finals - tight, tough, defensive and, once again, mean. Feeding off an emotional home crowd for the first time of the series, the Hawks controlled much of the early play, but the Penguins took a 1-0 lead late in the first period when Stevens deflected Jim Paek's shot from the left point. After that, goaltender Barrasso - who never got enough credit for his greatness - produced a stand-up performace for a 1-0 victory and a 3-0 series lead.

"The Hawks were probably a bit stunned after that," Steigerwald said. "The Penguins seemed to have all the answers, no matter how they played."

Game 4 turned out to be one of the most entertaining games in the history of the Stanley Cup Finals, a wild, free-flowing affair that was tied four times at 1-1, 2-2, 3-3 and 4-4. The Penguins never trailed in the game but also never led by more than one goal until Ron Francis put them ahead, 6-4, at 7:59 of the third period. Even then, however, Jeremy Roenick responded for Chicago at 11:18, and the Penguins had to nurse a one-goal lead over the final eight-plus minutes to claim their second straight Cup.

The Penguins had six different goal-scorers in the game -- Jagr, Stevens, Lemieux, Rick Tocchet, Murphy and Francis - and Lemieux walked off with his second straight Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs.

Throughout the series, Chicago coach Mike Keenan had accused Lemieux and other Penguins of diving to draw penalties, and Lemieux was asked about it in the official post-game press conference. It turned out to be the last question, as Lemieux stood up and said, "I'm going to go dive into the Cup right now."