| Stanley Cup playoffs | |
| Year: | 1991 |
| Dates: | April 3 – May 25, 1991 |
| Num Teams: | 16 |
| Defending Champions: | Edmonton Oilers |
| Winners: | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| Second: | Minnesota North Stars |
| Stat Leader Title: | Scoring leader(s) |
| Stat Leader Player: | Mario Lemieux (Penguins) |
| Stat Leader Value: | 44 points |
| Award Title: | MVP |
| Award: | Mario Lemieux (Penguins) |
| Prev Season: | 1990 |
| Next Season: | 1992 |
The 1991 Stanley Cup playoffs for the National Hockey League (NHL) championship began on April 3, 1991, following the 1990–91 regular season. The 16 teams that qualified, from the top four teams of the four divisions, played best-of-seven series with re-seeding after the division finals. The Conference Champions played a best-of-seven series for the Stanley Cup.
This was the first of the 25 consecutive years in which the Detroit Red Wings qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs until their streak finally ended in 2017. Their streak is tied for the third longest in NHL history, and while it was running, it was the longest active playoff appearance streak in the four major American professional sports.
The finals concluded on May 25 with the Pittsburgh Penguins winning the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history, defeating the Minnesota North Stars in the final series four games to two. Pittsburgh forward Mario Lemieux was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as Most Valuable Player of the playoffs.
This was the first NHL playoffs without any series sweeps since the 1973 playoffs. In addition, this season set the record for most playoff games played with 92, which stood until 2014.[1]
The top four teams in each division qualified for the playoffs, as follows:
In the division semifinals, the fourth seeded team in each division played against the division winner from their division. The other series matched the second and third place teams from the divisions. The two winning teams from each division's semifinals then met in the division finals. The two division winners of each conference then played in the conference finals. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals.
In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series following a 2–2–1–1–1 format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). Home ice advantage was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record, and played at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary); the other team then played at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary).
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. This was a rematch of last year's Adams Division Semifinals in which Boston won in seven games.
This was fifth playoff series between these two teams, and were meeting for the second straight year. Both teams split their previous four playoff meetings. Montreal won last year's Adams Division Semifinals in six games.
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.
This was the third playoff series meeting between these two teams, and were meeting for the second straight year. Both teams split the previous two meetings. Washington won last year's Patrick Division Finals in five games.
This was the sixth playoff meeting between these two teams and were meeting for the second straight year. Chicago won four of the previous five playoff meetings, including last year's Norris Division Semifinals in seven games.
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams. Both teams split the previous two meetings. Detroit won their most recent meeting in five games in the 1988 Norris Division Finals.
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Vancouver won the only prior meeting in five games in the 1982 Smythe Division Finals.
This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two rivals with Edmonton winning three of the four previous series. They last met in the 1988 Smythe Division Finals, which Edmonton won in a four-game sweep. These teams did not meet again in the playoffs until 2022.
This was the eighth straight and 26th overall playoff meeting between these two teams. Montreal lead the all-time meetings 21–4. Boston won last year's Adams Division Finals in five games.
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.
This was the ninth playoff series between these two teams, and the last one before the North Stars relocated to Dallas. St. Louis won five of the previous eight playoff series, including the most recent one in five games in the 1989 Norris Division Semifinals.
This was the third straight and sixth overall playoff meeting between these two teams. Edmonton won three of the previous five meetings, including last year's Smythe Division Finals in a four-game sweep.
See also: NHL conference finals.
This was the third playoff series between these two teams. Boston won both previous series in consecutive years, with Boston winning the most recent series 3–2 in the 1980 Preliminary Round. Boston made their second consecutive and fourth overall Conference Finals appearance; they defeated the Washington Capitals the previous year in a four-game sweep. This was the first conference final for Pittsburgh since the playoffs went to a conference format starting in 1982. Pittsburgh last played a semifinal series in 1970 where they lost to the St. Louis Blues in six games. These teams split their three-game regular season series.
This was the second playoff series between these two teams. Edmonton won the only previous meeting in a four-game sweep in the 1984 Campbell Conference Final. Edmonton made their second consecutive and seventh appearance in the Conference Finals; they defeated the Chicago Blackhawks the previous year in six games. Minnesota made their second Conference Finals appearance; they last made it to the Conference Finals in 1984, when they were swept by the Oilers in four straight. Minnesota won this year's three-game regular season series earning five of six points. Minnesota's series victory was the first time since realignment in 1981 that the Clarence Campbell Conference was not represented by a Canadian or Smythe Division team in the Stanley Cup Finals, and the first time since 1982 it was not represented by an Albertan team.
See main article: 1991 Stanley Cup Finals.
This was the first playoff series between these two teams.
These are the top ten skaters based on points.[2]
| Player | Team | data-sort-type="number" style="width:4em" | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mario Lemieux | 23 | 16 | 28 | 44 | +14 | 16 | ||
| Mark Recchi | Pittsburgh Penguins | 24 | 10 | 24 | 34 | +6 | 33 | |
| Kevin Stevens | Pittsburgh Penguins | 24 | 17 | 16 | 33 | +14 | 53 | |
| Brian Bellows | 23 | 10 | 19 | 29 | -6 | 30 | ||
| Dave Gagner | Minnesota North Stars | 23 | 12 | 15 | 27 | -4 | 28 | |
| Ray Bourque | 19 | 7 | 18 | 25 | -4 | 12 | ||
| Brian Propp | Minnesota North Stars | 23 | 8 | 15 | 23 | -4 | 28 | |
| Larry Murphy | Pittsburgh Penguins | 23 | 5 | 18 | 23 | +17 | 44 | |
| Neal Broten | Minnesota North Stars | 23 | 9 | 13 | 22 | +2 | 6 | |
| Craig Janney | Boston Bruins | 18 | 4 | 18 | 22 | -4 | 11 |
This is a combined table of the top five goaltenders based on goals against average and the top five goaltenders based on save percentage, with at least 420 minutes played. The table is sorted by GAA, and the criteria for inclusion are bolded.[3]
| Player | Team | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 12 | 7 | 629 | 51 | 2.60 | .919 | 1 | 1175:23 | |||
| 12 | 6 | 6 | 382 | 37 | 2.78 | .903 | 0 | 798:13 | |||
| 11 | 5 | 5 | 294 | 29 | 2.79 | .901 | 1 | 624:19 | |||
| 7 | 3 | 4 | 216 | 21 | 2.94 | .903 | 0 | 428:06 | |||
| 7 | 3 | 4 | 204 | 21 | 2.95 | .897 | 0 | 427:28 |