The more things change, the more they stay the same.
In 1993, the upstart New York Islanders defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Patrick Division finals thanks to an overtime goal by unlikely Islanders hero David Volek. This was considered an incredible upset. Not only were the Penguins the defending Stanley Cup champions, they were also the league’s best teams.
Fast forward 20 years, and the Islanders and the Penguins are playing another compelling and surprising series.
Let’s take a look at several similarities between this year’s version of the Penguins vs. Islanders and 1993’s version of the two teams meeting in the playoffs.
Penguins Loaded with Superstars
Like 1993, the Penguins came into the series as the top seed in the Eastern Conference (the Prince of Wales Conference back then) and were heavily favored to beat the Islanders.
This is mainly because of how stacked the Penguins’ roster was/is. In ’93, the team had the likes of Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis, Kevin Stevens, Larry Murphy and Tom Barrasso. The team could put the puck in the net and get good enough goaltending to win games by a big margin.
The current Penguins’ club also has an embarrassment of riches. With superstars such as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, Jarome Iginla, and Kris Letang, the Penguins were the second-best team in the NHL this season.
Islanders Trying to Return to Glory Years
After missing the postseason in both 1991 and 1992, the Islanders were simply trying to reestablish themselves as a playoff hockey club in 1993. The team was not loaded with superstars and instead relied on hard work on a night in and night out basis as veteran leadership to lead them in the playoffs.
The Islanders got both of these from the likes of Pierre Turgeon, Ray Ferraro, Derek King, Steve Thomas, Benoit Hogue, Brian Mullen, and several others. It may not have been pretty all the time, but it worked and got the team to the Prince of Wales conference finals, where they would lose to the Montreal Canadiens, the eventual Cup Champion.
This time around, the Islanders, having missed the playoffs the last five seasons, are trying to get back on their feet and become a more consistent hockey club. The team has a lot of hardworking group with players like John Tavares, Matt Moulson, Kyle Okposo, Josh Bailey, Michael Grabner, along with veterans such as Mark Streit, Marty Reasoner, and goaltender Evgeni Nabokov.
Like the team did in 1993, these guys have come together to form a more than formidable opponent for the top-seeded Penguins.
Islanders Keeping Pace with the Penguins
Through four games in their 1993 series, the teams were tied at two games apiece.
The Islanders surprised many that season by taking Game 1 by a score of 3-2 and then surprised many again when they tied up the series in Game 4 with a 6-5 victory. The Penguins may have had the better roster, but the Islanders were making life tough for the Penguins and were showing the rest of the league that they were a team to be feared in the postseason.
Twenty years later, the Islanders are doing the same thing. After being blown out in Game 1 by a score of 5-0, the Islanders managed to win Game 2 by a score of 4-3 and then tied the series with a 6-4 victory on Game 4.
This Islanders’ team may not be made up of superstars like the Penguins’ roster is, but nevertheless the Islanders have found a way to play with the Penguins and make it a winnable series for them.
Lots of High-Scoring Games
Back in the early ’90s the NHL was wide open and a ton of goals were scored on a nightly basis.
Through the first four games of their series in 1993, the Islanders and Penguins combined for 23 goals. In Game 4 the teams’ combined to put the puck in the net 11 times.
Goal scoring is also very present in this series. Through the first four games, the two clubs have combined for 31 goals, with 10 of those goals coming in Game 4.
The One Constant
While a lot has changed in the last 20 years, it appears that a high-scoring and intriguing series between the Penguins and Islanders is the only constant.
