| Stanley Cup playoffs | |
| Year: | 1992 |
| Dates: | April 18–June 1, 1992 |
| Num Teams: | 16 |
| Defending Champions: | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| Winners: | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| Second: | Chicago Blackhawks |
| Stat Leader Title: | Scoring leader(s) |
| Stat Leader Player: | Mario Lemieux (Penguins) |
| Stat Leader Value: | 34 points |
| Award Title: | MVP |
| Award: | Mario Lemieux (Penguins) |
| Prev Season: | 1991 |
| Next Season: | 1993 |
The 1992 Stanley Cup playoffs, the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL) began on April 18, after the conclusion of the 1991–92 NHL season. The payoffs concluded with the Pittsburgh Penguins defeating the Chicago Blackhawks in a four-game sweep to win their second consecutive Stanley Cup, and second overall in franchise history.
The 1992 playoffs saw history being made, as for the first time ever, all four division winners were eliminated in the same round. In the division finals, the Norris Division champion Detroit Red Wings were swept by the Chicago Blackhawks in four straight games, and the Montreal Canadiens, who had won the Adams Division, suffered the same fate at the hands of the Boston Bruins. The Pittsburgh Penguins eliminated the Patrick Division titlists, the New York Rangers, in six games, while the Vancouver Canucks, the Smythe Division toppers, fell to the Edmonton Oilers, also in six games.
A record 54 games were played in the first round, with six of the eight series going the full seven games, and the other two going six games (the Oilers' win over the Kings and the Blackhawks' win over the Blues). Three of the eight series featured teams coming back from 3–1 series deficits (Detroit against Minnesota, Pittsburgh against Washington, and Vancouver against Winnipeg), the most in a single playoff year; this record was equaled in 2003. Conversely, five series ended in sweeps, the most in a single playoffs since the modern format of four rounds of best-of-7 series was introduced in 1987.[1]
This was the last year the Hartford Whalers and Minnesota North Stars qualified for the playoffs. The franchises would not reach the post-season again until 1999 and 1994 respectively. By the time each franchise reached the playoffs again, they were known as the Carolina Hurricanes and the Dallas Stars, respectively.
Video replay was used to decide a playoff game for the first time in game six of the Detroit–Minnesota division semifinal. Sergei Fedorov of the Red Wings appeared to hit the crossbar behind Minnesota goalie Jon Casey during the first overtime, but after the North Stars iced the puck immediately afterward, referee Rob Shick called for a video review, which determined that the puck had entered the goal just below the crossbar and caromed off the frame at the back of the net. Fedorov was awarded the goal, giving the Red Wings a series-tying victory.
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 fifth playoff series meeting between these two teams. Montreal won all four prior playoff meetings, including their most recent meeting in the 1989 Adams Division Semifinals in a four-game sweep. This was the final time that the Hartford Whalers qualified for the playoffs; the next time that this franchise made the playoffs was in 1999 as the Carolina Hurricanes. Game six was the final playoff game played at the Hartford Civic Center.
This was the fifth playoff series meeting between these two teams. Boston won all four prior playoff meetings, including their most recent meeting in the 1989 Adams Division Semifinals in five games.
This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.
This was the second overall playoff meeting in as many years between these two teams. Pittsburgh won last year's Patrick Division Finals in five games.
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.
This was the final playoff series played by the Minnesota North Stars. The next time that the Stars franchise made the playoffs was in 1994 when they were known as the Dallas Stars. Game six was the final playoff game played at the Met Center.
This was the eighth playoff series meeting between these two teams. Chicago won six of the previous seven series, including their most recent meeting in the 1990 Norris Division Finals in seven games.
This was the first playoff series between these two teams.
This was the seventh playoff meeting between these two teams and were meeting for the fourth straight year. Edmonton won four of the previous six meetings, including last year's Smythe Division Finals in six games.
This was the 27th playoff series meeting between these two teams. Montreal lead the all-time playoff meetings 21–5 against Boston. This was also the ninth consecutive year Boston and Montreal had met in the playoffs, an NHL record that still stands. Boston won last year's Adams Division Finals in seven games.
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Pittsburgh won the only previous meeting in a four-game sweep in the 1989 Patrick Division Semifinals.
This was the 13th playoff series meeting between these two teams. Entering the series, Chicago led the all-time meetings 7–5. Their most recent meeting was won by Chicago in six games in the 1989 Norris Division Semifinals.
This was the second playoff series meeting between these two teams. Edmonton won the only previous meeting in a three-game sweep in the 1986 Smythe Division Semifinals.
See also: NHL conference finals.
This was the third playoff series meeting between these two teams. Boston won two of the previous three meetings. This was a rematch of last year's Prince of Wales Conference Final, which Pittsburgh won in six games.
This was the fourth playoff series meeting between these two teams. Edmonton won all three previous meetings, the most recent of which they won in six games in the 1990 Clarence Campbell Conference Final.
See main article: 1992 Stanley Cup Finals.
This was the second playoff series meeting between these two teams. Chicago won the only previous meeting in a four-game sweep in the 1972 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals.
These are the top ten skaters based on points.[2]
| Player | Team | data-sort-type="number" style="width:4em" | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mario Lemieux | 15 | 16 | 18 | 34 | +6 | 2 | ||
| Kevin Stevens | Pittsburgh Penguins | 21 | 13 | 15 | 28 | +2 | 28 | |
| Ron Francis | Pittsburgh Penguins | 21 | 8 | 19 | 27 | +8 | 6 | |
| Jaromir Jagr | Pittsburgh Penguins | 21 | 11 | 13 | 24 | +4 | 6 | |
| Joe Murphy | 16 | 8 | 16 | 24 | +2 | 12 | ||
| Jeremy Roenick | 18 | 12 | 10 | 22 | +11 | 12 | ||
| Chris Chelios | Chicago Blackhawks | 18 | 6 | 15 | 21 | +19 | 37 | |
| Bernie Nicholls | Edmonton Oilers | 16 | 8 | 11 | 19 | +2 | 25 | |
| Rick Tocchet | Pittsburgh Penguins | 14 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 0 | 24 | |
| Adam Oates | 15 | 5 | 14 | 19 | -6 | 4 |
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 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | 12 | 4 | 398 | 39 | 2.47 | .902 | 1 | 948:47 | |||
| 11 | 3 | 7 | 277 | 25 | 2.51 | .910 | 2 | 597:18 | |||
| 13 | 6 | 7 | 364 | 33 | 2.52 | .909 | 2 | 784:35 | |||
| 11 | 4 | 7 | 312 | 30 | 2.63 | .904 | 1 | 685:31 | |||
| 7 | 3 | 4 | 201 | 19 | 2.63 | .905 | 1 | 433:22 |