NHL History: 30 best teams to not win the Stanley Cup: 6. 1993 Penguins
The early 90s Pittsburgh Penguins were unstoppable. They proved that by winning back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships in 1991 and 1992. The one-two punch of Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr is something we hadn’t seen since the Oilers dynasty. Once again, the Penguins won the division in a landslide. This, despite the fact that Lemieux had been dealing with Hodgkin’s Disease. He missed 24 games due to his bout with the disease, but he still led the league in points. And obviously, he still won the Hart Trophy.
Kevin Stevens, Rick Tocchet, and Ron Francis all scored 100+ points. They faced the New Jersey Devils in the first round of the playoffs, and easily dispatched them in five games. The next round they faced the New York Islanders, and it was an absolute dog fight. When looking at the series, it was one of the most exciting in history. It went seven games, the final goal of the series came in overtime, there was only one blowout, and both teams could take advantage of the series at any time.
Game 7 on its own is underrated in the realms of history. The Islanders scored two early third-period goals to give them a 3-1 lead. Francis scored a goal with less than four minutes left, giving them life. Then, with exactly one minute left in the game, Tocchet scored to tie the game. The hype was ridiculous, and all of the momentum was in Pittsburgh’s favor. They had Lemieux leading an insane offense into OT.
Then, five minutes in, the Penguins season was over. A two-on-one eventually went to David Volek for a one timer, and it went in the net.
These things happen, but this Penguins team was well on its way to a three peat. This iteration of the Penguins never won another Stanley Cup. Two championships is a lot, but it just feels like not enough with this much talent on the team.