I found this clip of that interesting series on YouTube (Man, whatever happened to Classic Series?):
I know Pittsburgh and Washington had met in the 1991 playoffs, but to me this series was what set the tone for PIT/WSH and what we've come to know- Blown leads on one side, WSH not protecting home-ice, PIT finding ways when it mattered, etc.
1991 was one of the few times where many felt WAS the inferior team in that series.
1992 was a different story.
Washington had an unexpectedly high-scoring offense (330 goals) when you look at their roster (Dmitri Khristich of all people scored 36 goals), scoring enough goals for Don Beaupre to win plenty of high-scoring games- he won 29 times in 1991-92 and was a Wales Conference All-Star goalie.
They had the 2nd best record in the league (Detroit also had 98 points, but Washington had more wins), the last time to date the team that had the 2nd best record in the league did not have 100 points as a team.
Pittsburgh dealt with adversity that season- none more than the tragic death of Badger Bob Johnson who had guided them to their first ever Cup in 1991.
Scotty Bowman took over as the interim coach (Not a lot of people remember he was in the Penguins front office for the 1990-91 Cup).
Lemieux missed some games, but still won the Art Ross with 131 points. Interestingly, his 44 goals were the 2nd fewest of his 100-point seasons behind the 43 he had as a rookie in 1984-85
Kevin Stevens had that famous 50+ goal 200+ penalty minute season, Jagr scored 30 goals for the first of 15 straight seasons, Joe Mullen bounced back from a subpar 1991 to score 42 goals (including 2 consecutive 4-goal games), Larry Murphy had 77 points- more than enough firepower even with Lemieux's 18 games missed, Tom Barrasso not having a super season (29-22-2), and a surprisingly subpar season from Ron Francis (21-33-54 in 70 games).
There was also the Recchi/Coffey trades that essentially landed them Wregget/Tocchet/Kjell Samuellson.
And there was a surprisingly subpar 39-32-9 regular season record. They actually had the same number of points as (87) as 4th place New Jersey, but won 1 more game for the tiebreaker.
Lemieux missed game 1 and WAS won a surprisingly low-scoring 3-1 game.
He came back in game 2, but WAS won again 6-2.
Mario then exploded for a 3-goal 3-assist night in a must-win 6-4 game 3 win.
Dino Ciccarelli would return the favor with 4 goals in a surprising 7-2 game 4 blowout.
Considering Washington had gotten past the first round the previous 2 years (and 6 of the previous 9 years), you'd think they were in good shape (the 2nd round had been their bigger bugaboo in that era).
But they had famously blown a 3-1 series lead in the '87 playoffs (Easter Epic) and with the Capitals, at times it seemed not so much that they had a series lead, but how they could find another way to lose it.
Sure enough...........
Game 5. Bob Errey of all people scored twice as did Bryan Trottier in a 5-2 game 5 win.
Game 6- Washington jumped out early as they had in game 4 (4-2 lead midway through the 2nd period) but Lemieux came up big again- 2 goals, 3 assists, 5 points.
Game 7- If anyone knows the history of Washington Capitals home game 7's (They have had only 4 road game 7s compared to nearly a dozen at home), it was not one of confidence. Sure enough, Pittsburgh came up big. Lemieux/Jagr/Mullen tallied in a 3-1 win.
This if anything was the start of the Pittsburgh hex over Washington IMO despite this not being their first playoff rodeo. Save for a 5-game series in 2000, their series history of Washington looking good at times early, falling behind, and finding a way to not win in big spots really began here. In fact, that 2000 series is the only time Pittsburgh has ever gone up 3-0 on the Caps.
Besides Lemieux's absurd greatness (17 points in 6 games!) and Washington again finding a way to not find a way, one thing about this series that is famous was Scotty Bowman changed from a 2-1-2 forecheck to a 1-4 defense. Save for the 4-2 start in game 6, Washington- with an aforementioned #2 scoring offense- scored only 3 times in their last 2 home games.
What are your recollections of this series?
How surprised were you by the way the series ebbed and flowed? Did Pittsburgh seem to be hitting a wall before the comeback? What was the big key/turning point for their comeback?
And who wins the 1992 Cup if Pittsburgh doesn't comeback and we get Washington/NY Rangers/Boston vs. Chicago in the Cup Final?
I know Pittsburgh and Washington had met in the 1991 playoffs, but to me this series was what set the tone for PIT/WSH and what we've come to know- Blown leads on one side, WSH not protecting home-ice, PIT finding ways when it mattered, etc.
1991 was one of the few times where many felt WAS the inferior team in that series.
1992 was a different story.
Washington had an unexpectedly high-scoring offense (330 goals) when you look at their roster (Dmitri Khristich of all people scored 36 goals), scoring enough goals for Don Beaupre to win plenty of high-scoring games- he won 29 times in 1991-92 and was a Wales Conference All-Star goalie.
They had the 2nd best record in the league (Detroit also had 98 points, but Washington had more wins), the last time to date the team that had the 2nd best record in the league did not have 100 points as a team.
Pittsburgh dealt with adversity that season- none more than the tragic death of Badger Bob Johnson who had guided them to their first ever Cup in 1991.
Scotty Bowman took over as the interim coach (Not a lot of people remember he was in the Penguins front office for the 1990-91 Cup).
Lemieux missed some games, but still won the Art Ross with 131 points. Interestingly, his 44 goals were the 2nd fewest of his 100-point seasons behind the 43 he had as a rookie in 1984-85
Kevin Stevens had that famous 50+ goal 200+ penalty minute season, Jagr scored 30 goals for the first of 15 straight seasons, Joe Mullen bounced back from a subpar 1991 to score 42 goals (including 2 consecutive 4-goal games), Larry Murphy had 77 points- more than enough firepower even with Lemieux's 18 games missed, Tom Barrasso not having a super season (29-22-2), and a surprisingly subpar season from Ron Francis (21-33-54 in 70 games).
There was also the Recchi/Coffey trades that essentially landed them Wregget/Tocchet/Kjell Samuellson.
And there was a surprisingly subpar 39-32-9 regular season record. They actually had the same number of points as (87) as 4th place New Jersey, but won 1 more game for the tiebreaker.
Lemieux missed game 1 and WAS won a surprisingly low-scoring 3-1 game.
He came back in game 2, but WAS won again 6-2.
Mario then exploded for a 3-goal 3-assist night in a must-win 6-4 game 3 win.
Dino Ciccarelli would return the favor with 4 goals in a surprising 7-2 game 4 blowout.
Considering Washington had gotten past the first round the previous 2 years (and 6 of the previous 9 years), you'd think they were in good shape (the 2nd round had been their bigger bugaboo in that era).
But they had famously blown a 3-1 series lead in the '87 playoffs (Easter Epic) and with the Capitals, at times it seemed not so much that they had a series lead, but how they could find another way to lose it.
Sure enough...........
Game 5. Bob Errey of all people scored twice as did Bryan Trottier in a 5-2 game 5 win.
Game 6- Washington jumped out early as they had in game 4 (4-2 lead midway through the 2nd period) but Lemieux came up big again- 2 goals, 3 assists, 5 points.
Game 7- If anyone knows the history of Washington Capitals home game 7's (They have had only 4 road game 7s compared to nearly a dozen at home), it was not one of confidence. Sure enough, Pittsburgh came up big. Lemieux/Jagr/Mullen tallied in a 3-1 win.
This if anything was the start of the Pittsburgh hex over Washington IMO despite this not being their first playoff rodeo. Save for a 5-game series in 2000, their series history of Washington looking good at times early, falling behind, and finding a way to not win in big spots really began here. In fact, that 2000 series is the only time Pittsburgh has ever gone up 3-0 on the Caps.
Besides Lemieux's absurd greatness (17 points in 6 games!) and Washington again finding a way to not find a way, one thing about this series that is famous was Scotty Bowman changed from a 2-1-2 forecheck to a 1-4 defense. Save for the 4-2 start in game 6, Washington- with an aforementioned #2 scoring offense- scored only 3 times in their last 2 home games.
What are your recollections of this series?
How surprised were you by the way the series ebbed and flowed? Did Pittsburgh seem to be hitting a wall before the comeback? What was the big key/turning point for their comeback?
And who wins the 1992 Cup if Pittsburgh doesn't comeback and we get Washington/NY Rangers/Boston vs. Chicago in the Cup Final?
