{"id":7736,"date":"2017-06-02T12:07:19","date_gmt":"2017-06-02T16:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=7736"},"modified":"2017-06-02T14:07:41","modified_gmt":"2017-06-02T18:07:41","slug":"penguins-hoping-their-own-history-repeats-itself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2017\/06\/02\/penguins-hoping-their-own-history-repeats-itself\/","title":{"rendered":"Penguins hoping their own history repeats itself"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
The Penguins celebrate after their 1991 Stanley Cup
victory. (Darrell Sapp\/Post-Gazette)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Penguins\u2019 quest for their fifth Stanley Cup has one thing on its side that the Nashville Predators could not replicate even if they wanted to: historical symmetry.<\/p>\n

If the Penguins win this year, it will not only be the 25th anniversary of the team\u2019s 1991-92 Cup victory, but also 25 years since the team won its last back-to-back titles.<\/p>\n

The 2016 squad already completed the first step of the mission for another back-to-back, following in the footsteps of the \u201991 winners of Lord Stanley\u2019s Cup.<\/p>\n

They dispatched the San Jose Sharks in six games, just as the \u201991 team did with the Minnesota North Stars.<\/p>\n

\"Mario <\/a>
Mario Lemieux scores a goal in game six of the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Minnesota North Stars in 1991. (Darrell Sapp\/Post- Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Tom <\/a>
Tom Barrasso makes a save against the Minnesota North Stars in game six of the 1991 Stanley Cup victory. (Darrell Sapp\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

The two squads took a slightly different path to their Game 6 victories, though. The \u201991 Pens went into Game 5 tied 2-2 before scoring 14 goals in its next two games to clinch the team\u2019s first Stanley Cup. The 2016 Pens took a 3-1 lead back to Pittsburgh before dropping Game 5<\/a> to San Jose and then securing the team\u2019s fourth Cup with a 3-1 victory<\/a> in Game 6.<\/p>\n

The \u201991 team arguably has more in common with the 2017 Pens than with last year\u2019s champions.<\/p>\n

There was a legitimate chance of the Penguins being sold during the \u201991 Stanley Cup run: the Post-Gazette ran a story above the article celebrating the team\u2019s Game 2 win with the headline, \u201cPens to stay even if sold.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
This article about the Penguins’ fate from the May 18, 1991, edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette superseded coverage of the previous night’s Stanley Cup action.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It says a lot about the financial state of the Penguins in the early 1990s that a team in the process of winning the sport\u2019s most valuable prize was in danger of not only being sold, but leaving the Steel City altogether.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Goalie Tom Barrasso raises his arms in victory as defenseman Ulf Samuelsson leads the victorious Pens toward the goalie after their 1991 Stanley Cup win. (Darrell Sapp\/Post-Gazette)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Likewise, rumors swirled in fall 2016 that Lemieux was planning to sell the Penguins, though there reportedly was no chance of the team vacating Pittsburgh. Ownership eventually decided not to sell, which pleased<\/a> NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.<\/p>\n

On the ice, the \u201991 Penguins were remarkably adept at scoring multiple goals in short bursts, scoring three goals in the first three minutes of Game 4, four goals in the first period of Game 5 and three goals in the first period of an 8-0 Game 6 blowout.<\/p>\n

That should sound familiar to anyone who watched Games 1 and 2 against the Predators, where the Penguins scored three goals in the first period of Game 1 and broke Game 2 wide open with three quick third-period strikes, including rookie Jake Guentzel\u2019s goal 10 seconds after the period\u2019s opening face-off.<\/p>\n

Those two games are eerily similar to the beginning of the Penguins\u2019 \u201992 championship series.<\/p>\n

The Penguins were also up 2-0 at this point in their \u201992 series against the Chicago Blackhawks, with a 5-4 and<\/p>\n

\"\"
Assistant captain Bob Errey watches Mario Lemieux hoist the cup after the Penguins Stanley Cup victory over the Minnesota North Stars. (Darrell Sapp\/Post-Gazette)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

3-1 win in Games 1 and 2, respectively. For those paying attention, the Penguins beat the Predators 5-3 \u00a0in Game 1 and 4-1 in Game 2, only one goal off the \u201992 games\u2019 scores.<\/p>\n

If the Penguins can sustain these historical parallels, we are in for a snoozer of a Game 3, as the \u201992 Pens won 1-0 with the only scoring coming in the first period.<\/p>\n

But if time really is a flat circle, Pens fans can look forward to an epic Game 4, as the \u201992 team truly earned its Stanley Cup sweep by beating the Blackhawks 6-5.<\/p>\n

If the cycle repeats, Nashville may have to ban anyone<\/a> with a Pittsburgh ID from buying brooms.<\/p>\n

Note: The Post-Gazette has no archived photos from the 1991-92 Penguins\u2019 championship run because it occurred during the Pittsburgh newspaper strike of 1992.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Joshua Axelrod<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Penguins\u2019 quest for their fifth Stanley Cup has one thing on its side that…<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesPenguins hoping their own history repeats itself<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":7752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[944],"tags":[1391,1392,981,1390,1356,1182,1376,1389],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/MarioCup.jpg?fit=1728%2C1327&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2505,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/09\/19\/badger-bob-the-penguins-coach\/","url_meta":{"origin":7736,"position":0},"title":"\u201cBadger\u201d Bob, the Penguins coach","date":"September 19, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"We smile when remembering Badger Bob\u2019s slogan: 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