1992–93 record 56–21–7 Road record 24–15–3 | Conference 1st Wales Home record 32–6–4 Goals for 367 | |
The Pittsburgh Penguins were the best team in the NHL during the 1992–93 regular season. Their 56 wins and 119 points earned them the Presidents' Trophy's as the League's top team. Four players reached the 100-point plateau and, for the second consecutive season, five reached the 30-goal plateau. Despite missing over a quarter of the regular season, Mario Lemieux returned later in the year to help the Penguins put together a 17-game winning streak, an NHL record still standing today.
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Regular season
Pittsburgh allowed the most short-handed goals (19) during the regular season of all 24 teams. In addition to tying the Buffalo Sabres for most hat-tricks during the regular season, with ten, the Penguins finished second in shooting percentage, scoring 367 goals on 2,725 shots (13.5%).
Mario Lemieux
It was announced during the regular season that Mario Lemieux had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease. Despite missing 24 regular season games and the 1993 NHL All-Star Game in Montreal on February 6, 1993, Lemieux led the League in plus-minus with +55 and led in scoring with 160 points (a total for which he would win the Art Ross Trophy). At the pace he was scoring goals (1.15 per game) and earning up assists (1.52 per game), he could have scored 97 goals and tallied 128 assists for 225 points had he played all 84 games. Had he achieved these totals, he would have broken Wayne Gretzky's all-time records for most goals in a season (92) and most points in a season (215). In recognition of his dedication and his achievements, Lemieux was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's MVP during the regular season.
Season standings
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.
p – Won Presidents' Trophy (and division)
Divisions: PTK – Patrick, ADM – Adams
bold – Qualified for playoffs
Patrick Division Semi-Finals
The Devils had been a struggling team prior to the 1992–93 season, and in the first round of the playoffs, they met the Presidents' Trophy winners from Pittsburgh. The Penguins entered the series on an 11-game playoff winning streak, which they extended to a record 14 games in this series.
Patrick Division Finals
The Isles' improbable upset of the Penguins was capped off by David Volek's series-winning goal at 5:16 of overtime in Game 7.
Player statistics
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Penguins. Stats reflect time with the Penguins only.
‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Penguins only.
Transactions
The Penguins were involved in the following transactions during the 1992–93 season:
Draft picks
Pittsburgh Penguins' picks at the 1992 NHL Entry Draft.
Farm teams
The Cleveland Lumberjacks relocated from Muskegon for the 1992–93 season. They finished second in the International Hockey League (IHL)'s Atlantic Division which earned them a playoff spot. They lost in the first round of the playoffs to the eventual Turner Cup champion Fort Wayne Komets.