Now you younglings can experience a great old series - 1991

by Cherno77 on Jul 28, 2011 11:00 PM EDT

When I saw these on youtube (taken from NHL Network) I'll admit I got pumped. Not including the 1988 playoff run, the 1991 Patrick Division Semi Final against the Penguins was a classic Devil series vs. a team that would go on to win the Stanley Cup. This is prime Christmas tree Devil history.

It was a year where the Devils had some greats as their core, before new ones would arrive: Shanahan, Muller, C. Lemieux, Stastny & MacLean (he scored 45 goals this year & it was before his injury. He would never be the same again). Add to that a sparkplug penalty killing unit of Doug Brown & Pat Conacher.

Also of note for the Pens, this was the first playoffs ever for Jagr & Recchi.

If there was ever a New Jersey Devils team that had the potential and just missed it; it was this team (my runner up being if the 2008-09 Devils got past Carolina, we would have seen them excel).

Games 1 & 2 - They split. The Devils win game 1 with two Peter Stasny goals, Pens game 2 in OT with a Jagr goal.

Game 3 - Penguins win - Shanahan scores two; but I'll always remember Doug Brown (the little runt) scoring shorthanded to tie the game before the Devils lost it in heartbreaking fashion in the LAST MINUTE.

Game 4 - New Jersey Devils win. Gotta love the Shanahan assist & MacLean multiple fist pumps after. Claude Lemieux scores two goals. Crowd goes wild.

Game 5 - New Jersey Devils win - AT Pittsburgh - and emphatically.

Game 6 - Penguins win - Devils down 4 - 1, come storming back with ~~3 goals~~, 2 goals. I made a parody of the Boschman goal for Puck Daddy. I strongly feel if instant replay was around, the Pittsburgh Penguins would have never won in 1991. One guy commented that the call could have saved hockey in Pittsburgh. Not off base at all.

Game 7 - Penguins win. The Devils were dwelling on that disallowed goal. They were mentally beat up & got pummeled in this game.

In this series, the Penguins faced elimination twice. They would never face it again on their way to the first Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh history. The series is notable for the many disallowed goals against the Devils. I believe this matchup was the clincher in NHL offices for instant replay to proceed the next year (IMHO. I have no link to back it up).

But as the announcer said at the beginning, "What is often forgotten is how close the Penguins came to missing the final."

Enjoy, I just wish they had the original Sports Channel commentary with Gary Thorne & Peter McNab

All FanPosts and FanShots are the respective work of the author and not representative of the writers or other users of In Lou We Trust.

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One guy commented that the call could have saved hockey in Pittsburgh. Not off base at all.

That guy was me and I still hold on to that thought. Where would the Penguins be if they lost that Series (and obviously) not win the Cup?

by Skuba7 on Jul 28, 2011 11:29 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

The missing original commentary is rare for the NHL network

I have praised the NHL network’s highlight shows because they usually maintain the original commentary. Makes me sad its not there for this series as its not quite the same without Thorne yelling “SHOT! SAVE! TERRERI!”

by smarthockey on Jul 29, 2011 1:46 PM EDT reply actions

I think it is the Pittsburgh announcers . . .

I have respect for most sports fans with 2 exceptions: NY Ranger fans who grew up in New Jersey, and Dallas Cowboy fans who can't name the capital of Texas.

by Cherno77 on Jul 29, 2011 4:07 PM EDT up reply actions

2008-2009 Devils?

We completely deserved to lose the way Marty played. To let up a goal to lose with like 2 seconds left in one of the games and then to top it off game 7 he lets up two goals with less than two minutes left. But hey, you can’t win them all.

Also, 2001 I might add, goaltending was the of the weakest part of our team, and he’s also the reason why we lost that Stanley Cup, and Patrick Roy played out of his mind games 6 and 7 stealing the series easily.

by Mr. Boom on Jul 29, 2011 8:16 PM EDT reply actions

Brodeur is not the reason we lost the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals. Nor is blaming Brodeur consistent with “Patrick Roy stole the series easily”. “Patrick Roy stole the series” is a statement that implies the Devils were the better team and Roy was the primary reason the series did not go to the Devils.

If you look at the series in more depth, what jumps out at me is that the Devils scored 2 goals or fewer five times, 3 goals once, and 4 goals once. What also jumps out at me is that the Devils laid an egg on home ice with a chance to clinch the series in Game 6.

….

As for 2008-2009, it was a bad loss…. but you’re laying it on a bit thick. Yes, losing a game in the final seconds of regulation hurts, but that was a game the Devils were badly outplayed in. It was 3-0 Carolina until the waning seconds of the second period — that the Devils were tied with 11 minutes to play is a testament of their ability to come back, but it isn’t like they dominated play the entire way and lost on a fluke bounce. Game 7 certainly hurts, but the loss can’t be pinned on Marty alone — there was an entire team breakdown that led to the tying and winning goals.

by acasser on Jul 29, 2011 8:59 PM EDT up reply actions

The tying yes, the winning? That was all marty there.

by KovyisLove on Jul 29, 2011 11:29 PM EDT up reply actions

This.

The winning goal was brutal.

Status quo.

by nyynygnjd on Jul 30, 2011 2:33 AM EDT up reply actions

That’s a certainly relevant comment in a FanPost about the 1991 playoffs.

Devils in my heart! Devils in my mind! Devils in my eyes! Devils until I die!
In Lou We Trust - The New Jersey Devils SBN Blog

by John Fischer on Jul 29, 2011 11:30 PM EDT up reply actions

Great old series

Thanks for the post

"You're next." -Scott Stevens

by MikePelusoTears on Jul 31, 2011 1:46 PM EDT reply actions

Just occurred to me . . .

Game 4 – Peter McNab’s commentary after Shanahan’s assist on MacLean’s goal is that Shanny was now a bonafide NHL star. Classic if you can find it.

I have respect for most sports fans with 2 exceptions: NY Ranger fans who grew up in New Jersey, and Dallas Cowboy fans who can't name the capital of Texas.

by Cherno77 on Jul 31, 2011 9:25 PM EDT reply actions

Frank Pietrangelo's Moment In the Sun

It was a great old series, a series that made me years older thanks to the disallowed goals.
It did change the game for the better with replay coming the following season. The Devils had split the season series 3-3 with Pittsburgh and the Devils did not seem afraid of the big bad Pens at all. Game six also featured that unreal save by Frank Pietrangelo, who also could claim he saved hockey in Pittsburgh with his glove save on Stastny.
Tom McVie lost back-to-back first-round seven game series. In both game seven’s, they would lose by four goals. You could tell that in 1991 the Devils were gassed going into Pittsburgh for game seven after this injustice.

by JerseyPatriot on Aug 1, 2011 2:31 PM EDT reply actions