Maven's Memories: Prelude to the Penguins Upset in 1993

It's one thing for a lower-rung team to enter the playoffs behind the eight-ball.
But it's a more bizarre bit of business to be so far behind the eight-ball you can't see the number 8.
Such was the dilemma facing the Islanders after the Nassaumen defeated the Washington Capitals in the opening tourney of the 1993 playoffs.

Their next opponents would be the Pittsburgh Penguins who had won two consecutive Stanley Cup and were hellbent to capture a third.
And if that wasn't challenge enough for coach Al Arbour's outfit, New York would enter the fray without the services of its best offensive force, Pierre Turgeon.
Blindsided near the conclusion of the first-round clinching game at Nassau Coliseum by Washington's Dale Hunter, Unlucky Pierre was recovering from a separated shoulder and concussion.
"We'll just have to play our very best," said Arbour. "If every one of my guys gives one-hundred percent we'll make a series of it; even though we'll miss Pierre."
MAVEN'S MEMORIES
WRITTEN COVERAGE
Isles Beat Caps in 1993
1992-93 A Season to Remember
Making News in 1991-92
The Big Bang of 1991
Maven's Haven
Finding a replacement for a player in the 14-carat-gold category was like prospecting for diamonds in a fish bowl. Or, in one word, impossible.
Dutifully, Arbour scanned his roster and chose Greg Parks, a journeyman forward who stood a mere 5-7 and whose credentials amounted to success in the minors and European teams. Not exactly awe-inspiring.
As for re-making the power play minus Turgeon, Arbour moved Ray Ferraro up with Steve Thomas and Derek King. It didn't change any minds among the media as to the ultimate series-winner.
Pittsburghers had the First Round scenario pretty well scripted. They figured that -- with a lot of luck -- the Visitors might possibly eke out a win somewhere along the best-of-seven way. Likewise a sweep would be more likely.
"We weren't surprised by all the optimism on the Penguins side," said Steve Thomas. "All you had to do is look at their record, their stars -- and their motivation to win a third straight Cup."
That said, the Islanders neither carried a white flag nor did Arbour prepare a letter of surrender. His stickhandlers took the ice and -- in a trice -- the Nassaumen got a surprise break.
On his first shift tall, young Brad Dalgarno collided with tall, not-that-young Mario Lemieux. The Islander skated away unscathed while Pittsburgh's captain -- obviously disabled -- left the ice with an aching back.
Thomas: "When Lemieux went off, the guys on the bench were saying, 'Hey, we've got a real chance to win this game."
Still, the defending champions were filled with stars. Aces such as Ron Francis, Tom Barrasso, Joe Mullen and Jaromir Jagr were in mint condition yet, somehow, the Isles played Pittsburgh even; and sometimes un-even.
The Nassaumen could thank Glenn Healy's goaltending for keeping the score 1-1; not to mention the penalty-killing team of Tom Fitzgerald and Travis Green which defused a Penguins 5-on-3 power play.
"That sure helped our confidence," said Green whose overall game was reaching a peak in the playoffs. "We began thinking that good things were going to happen."
And they did -- at 17:09 of the first frame, The Igloo took on a funeral air when Ray Ferraro scored his first shorthanded goal as an Islander. Arbour's penalty-killers were A-1 while Pittsburgh's was just plain ersatz.
"The closest I get to the penalty-killing meetings," Ferraro joked after the contest, "is when I go to the water fountain."
Ah, but Fitzgerald was a regular at the PK sessions and showed more results at 5:02 of the second period with another shorthander. From there on, it was Healy's game to win and he had arms held high at the end, a 3-2 victory.
Explaining the upset in post-game dialogues with the media, Islanders players had the easiest answer: Healy out-goaled Barrasso. The other obvious answer had to be the Isles aggressive penalty-killing.
When someone mentioned to captain Flatley that Lady Luck made a cameo appearance on behalf of the Islanders, he offered a rational rejoinder: "Strange things happen this time of the year, don't they?"
Yet there was nothing strange about key aspects of the Islanders game plan. Arbour asked his team to play aggressive -- yet smart -- hockey and they did. And when the Nassaumen got penalized, they still continued their offensive.

Then, there were the unplanned elements. Prior to the playoffs, nobody could be sure how well -- or not well, for that matter -- rookies such as Darius Kasparaitis and Vlad Malakhov would hold up but they were just fine.
Kasper, in particular, had a knack for getting under the Penguins' skin while Vladdy played a solid two-way game. The newcomers added a pizzazz that coach Arbour appreciated.
"We're like a car," Radar explained. "We had to replace a few parts. We needed a few spark plugs, that's all; and we got 'em."
The Isles also took home ice advantage away from Pittsburgh and, suddenly, the talk was about -- maybe, just maybe -- the underdogs could pull off an upset.
"It was too early to predict how the series could go," Green concluded. "But the way we won that first game, it had to have the Penguin thinking. One thing was certain; they were not going to sweep us!"
As the Islanders and Penguins prepared for Game Two of the 1993
playoffs, the general public was confused as to which team was the favorite and which was the underdog.
Who could blame them?
"After all," noted Isles General Manager Bill Torrey, "they got to the top because of their stars. But even a top team is beatable. We'll be the Cinderella team and see who plays Mister Pumpkin in the end."
Although Pittsburgh had captured two consecutive Cups (1991, 1992), the Penguins appeared disorganized and confused during Game One against the lowly but suddenly galvanic Visitors. New York upset Pitt, 3-2
But it was only one game and Pitt was minus its injured superstar, Lemieux. Then again, the Isles could say ditto with their ace, Turgeon, on the shelf.
Game Two -- also at Pittsburgh's Igloo -- aroused enough concern among the home club that coach Scotty Bowman re-adjusted his thinking cap and came up with a new strategy to downplay the upstarts from Nassau.
"We have to do better on the scoreboard," said Bowman, "and better on defense. That done; everything should be all right."
Bowman was not considered one of the NHL's smartest coaches for nothing. Even minus Lemieux, his stickhandlers dominated Game Two in every department. And did so with goalie Tom Barrasso at his blankety-blank best.
The big Bostonian stopped every one of the 26 drives the Islanders produced while his mates delivered a trio of goals and that was that. The series was now tied at one game apiece and many in the Penguins hierarchy breathed easier.
Arbour was breathing harder; mostly because his club lacked zip in the second series game and that was just plain uncharacteristic of the Nassaumen.
"I have a feeling that my guys were not as pumped as they might have been had (Mario) Lemieux been playing," Radar reasoned. "From here on there can be no excuses."

There was no Lemieux in the lineup for Game Three at The Coliseum. But there was plenty of emotion on the New York side. Trouble was, Bowman's Boys matched it and nursed a 2-1 lead until late in the third period.
Desperately seeking the next goal, the Arbour-men stormed the barricades but Barrasso held the fort until Joe Mullen potted an empty-netter and the Cinderellas went down 3-1.
"We kept knocking and knocking," lamented energetic Benoit (Benny) Hogue, "but we couldn't get in. There's time; Cinderella is not dead yet."
The Coliseum crowd was not so sure about that as the teams took the ice for Game Four although there were a couple of positive signs on the Islanders side.
One was the stout defensive play of young forward Brad Dalgarno who kept 50-goal man Kevin Stevens off his game. Another was that the Isles overall play was equal to that of the Champs, except on the scoreboard.
The even-Steven state of affairs was evident in the fourth game which was tied 1-1 late in the second period. What followed could have been a chapter in Robert Ripley's "Believe It Or Not" series or, in a hurricane alert.
The unlikely chain of events began when the Isles Claude Loiselle was penalized for two minutes. Claude's crime was high-sticking except that he was not the culprit. Replays clearly demonstrated that it was Tom Fitzgerald.
If Fitz was miffed he showed it by scoring a shorthander with less than a minute left in the second stanza. For an arresting encore early in the third frame, Tom Terrific contrived another short-hander putting the Locals ahead, 3-1.
But the histrionics had just started. Within two minutes Troy Loney and Rick Tocchet had beaten Healy in the New York net and the contest was knotted all over again.
Ka-Ching! Ka-Ching!! Derek King tallied for the Isles at 3:31; then Kevin Stevens for the Pens at 6:24. Still not enough. Vlad Malakhov lifted the Isles into the lead at 9:11 but Ron Francis returned the favor at 10:50.
Who was going to be the next hero? The odds hardly favored the suddenly ubiquitous Derek King who previously had gone a dozen games without a goal.
But with less than eight minutes gone on the clock, Kinger beat Barrasso to put New York ahead, 6-5.
Naturally, the SRO denizens of the Old Barn wondered who would deposit the next biscuit in the bag. Meanwhile the timer ticked away, 16, 17, 18, 19 -- still 6-5. Finally, the Coliseum seemed totally unhinged as the final buzzer sounded.
ISLANDERS 6, PENGUINS 5!
The joke was over. No kidding, the Islanders were for real and the Penguins now knew they were juggling live charcoals. No more talk in the Pittsburgh room of a walk in the park; the walkway now was littered with long nails.
"They're in this series because they believe they can win," warned Pens defenseman Larry Murphy. "They're playing like they can win. We've got to turn up the heat."

And so Pitt did in Game Five. The Igloo was melt-the-ice hot with goals before the two-minute mark of the first period. First Lemieux, then Tocchet and finally Murphy all scored in the first 1:48 of the game.
By game's end, Bowman's sextet had secured a sextet of red lights. Awakened too late, the Isles could muster only half that. Pittsburgh now led the series while the Pens numbers had a startling effect on the Las Vegas oddsmakers.
The figure filberts deduced that when the Champs had a chance to eliminate a team their record was a top-heavy 8-1. And guess what? The Islanders were on the brink of elimination.
However, they were not on the brink of collapse. With Churchillian confidence,
King opined, "This series is going seven games. The seventh game is going to be a doozie!"
Kinger didn't know it at the time but he proved to be a better forecaster than Nostradamus, The Weatherman, a crystal ball and a dozen Ouija boards blended into one.
Then again, "doozie" may have been an understatement!
(Stay tuned for Game Six and "The Great Turnabout!")
LISTS: FOUR REASONS WHY THE ISLANDERS REMAINED OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THEIR CHANCES:
1. BELIEF: Derek King exemplified the rejuenated fighting spirit that spread throughout the Islanders dressing room. The Nassaumen refused to believe they would lose again.
2. SURPRISE SCORING:The awakening of scorers such as King, Ferraro, and Loiselle compensated for the loss of Pierre Turgeon.
3. PENGUINS VULNERABILITY:No question, Pittsburgh was a two-time champion for a reason; this was a quality hockey team. But it had a weak underbelly, and the Islanders had discovered it and would again in Game Six.
4. RADAR WORKS:Al Arbour simply would not give up on his club nor would he allow his skaters to give up on themselves. They would fight on -- and win!