Penguins: Revisiting the scariest games in franchise history

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been on the winning side of many lopsided games in their history. Here is a look back at a few games when things didn’t go according to plan.

Any team like the Pittsburgh Penguins that has employed such talent as Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Sidney Crosby, and Evgeni Malkin is sure to have caused nightmares for opposing teams and their fans over the years.

But what happens when the tables turn is bound to leave players shaking in their skates with ice-cold blood and goaltenders with the echoing sound of a goal horn piercing their ears. Here is a look at five of the scariest games in Penguins history.

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Chi-town Beatdown (Oct. 05, 2018)

When the 0-1-1 Penguins and 0-1 Blackhawks faced-off in this early season contest, nobody could have predicted that the Penguins would have been handed one of the worst losses in franchise history.

Off-season acquisition and former Blackhawk Goaltender Antti Niemi made his first start with the Penguins and unfortunately, Chicago was not feeling hospitable towards their old ally.

Niemi allowed four goals on 13 shots, which set the precedent for his time with Pittsburgh. He was put on waivers two games later after he allowed 16 goals in three games. Matt Murray didn’t fare much better in the relief effort, as he allowed six goals on 31 shots.

By the time the horn sounded at the conclusion of the third period, Chicago had put 10 pucks in the back of the net and served the Stanley Cup Champions a large piece of humble pie.

Thunderstruck (Nov. 08, 2003)

When the 3-7-3 Penguins locked horns with 8-1-1-1 Tampa Bay Lightning, the end result was an abomination of a showing. The porous Pens defense hung goaltender Sebastien Caron out to dry, as he faced 37 shots and allowed eight goals by the mid-way mark of the third period.

Rookie Marc-Andre Fleury got to see some action after Penguins coach Ed Olczyk finally ended Caron’s bleeding near the midway mark of the final stanza. Fleury made four saves on five shots in his 11 minutes of work.

Along with the lopsided score, an air of physicality and ugliness developed over the course of the contest. The teams combined for 77 PIM, with Lightning forward Chris Dingman responsible for 27 of the team’s 36 penalty minutes and Martin Straka racking up 14 of the Penguins 41 penalty minutes.

Battle lines Drawn (Oct. 20, 1977)

It did not take long for the Flyers to break the seal on the Penguins net in the is mid-Oct. massacre. The Flyers built up a solid 3-0 lead by the eight-minute mark of the first period and poured 21 shots on Pittsburgh goaltender Dunc Wilson by the end of the frame.

The Flyers offense continued their siege on the Penguins net and pulverized their way through the hapless Pittsburgh defense the next two periods and ended up with hefty 12-0 victory. Philadelphia spread the offense pretty evenly scoring four goals in the first and third periods and three in the second.

Wilson did the best he could with the barrage of rubber that came his way, he made 42 saves on 54 shots. Perhaps this is when the bad blood between clubs developed.

Revenge is Best Served Cold (Nov. 25, 1992)

It’s a good thing dead arenas tell no tales because Pittsburgh’s Civic Arena certainly bared witness to its fair share of ghastly games, including this 1992 Division Final rematch vs. The New York Rangers.

Pittsburgh got off to a fast start as Mario Lemieux buried his 26th goal of the season just 14 seconds into the first period, but it wasn’t long before the Rangers began their assault on the Penguins goaltenders.

The Rangers entered the third period with a 5-3 lead and capitalized on their power-play opportunities afforded to them by three consecutive Rick Tocchet infractions. New York capitalized by scoring three goals on five chances in the frame, and added three additional even-strength goals to claim an 11-3 victory.

Getting Torched (Mar. 9, 1989)

When the Pens and Calgary Flames met in this late-season contest, Pittsburgh ran headfirst into a team on the cusp of capturing their first Stanley Cup Championship. Bob Errey got the Penguins on the board early in the first, but the Flames responded by scoring nine unanswered goals, amassing a 9-1 lead by the midway mark of the third period.

Despite the insurmountable goal deficit, Pittsburgh scored two goals late in the frame (Kevin Stevens, Troy Loney) to put a somewhat more positive spin on this early March. dousing Penguins goalie Wendell Young was on the clock for 9 of 10 Flames goals and faced 40 shots before Tom Barrasso made his way into the game.

What are some of your scariest games in Pens history? Did we forget any? Feel free to tell us in the comments!