The Pittsburgh Penguins [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins] just wrapped up their 57th season, missing the Stanley Cup playoffs for the third consecutive season. Despite their recent lack of success, the franchise has appeared in the playoffs 37 times and won five championships. Our newest series will reflect on how the Penguins performed on specific days leading up to the 2025 Stanley Cup Final. Today, May 21, Pittsburgh has compiled a 4-0 record in four games on this date. * 1991 - Game 4 Win vs. Minnesota North Stars (5-3) * 1992 - Game 3 Win vs. Boston Bruins (5-1) * 2009 - Game 2 Win vs. Carolina Hurricanes (7-4) * 2017 - Game 5 Win vs. Ottawa Senators (7-0) NOTABLE PENGUINS PERFORMANCES ON THIS DAY May 21, 1991 - The Penguins even the Stanley Cup Final at 2-2 with a 5-3 win over the North Stars at the Met Center. Mario Lemieux had a goal and an assist while Joe Mullen had two helpers. Ten players found their way onto the scoresheet, including several Hall of Famers, Ron Francis (goal), Larry Murphy (assist), Mark Recchi (assist), and Bryan Trottier (goal). May 21, 1992 - Massachusetts native Kevin Stevens [https://www.nhl.com/news/kevin-stevens-conquered-challenges-on-road-to-us-hockey-hall-of-fame] tallies a natural hat trick in the first period, adding another one in the third for his second and final four-goal game. Pittsburgh wins 5-1, pushes the Bruins to the brink of elimination, and gets within a win of returning to the Stanley Cup Final. Meanwhile, Jaromir Jagr and Lemieux had three assists, while Rick Tocchet had two. With Byram On Trade Market, Penguins Need To Take Notice [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/3f6e1454-e868-4ff4-925c-566a0d9fe2c7.webp] With Byram On Trade Market, Penguins Need To Take Notice In his season-ending press conference on Apr. 21, <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins">Pittsburgh Penguins</a>' POHO and GM Kyle Dubas specified that the team would look to bolster the left side on defense from outside the organization. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/latest-news/with-byram-on-trade-market-penguins-need-to-take-notice] May 21, 2009 - Evgeni Malkin records his first career postseason hat trick [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-may-22-sp-nhl-east22-story.html] in a 7-4 win over the Hurricanes. In a career-defining performance, he scored two third-period goals to break a 4-4 tie and give the Penguins a 2-0 series lead. Several players had multi-point efforts, including Matt Cooke (three assists) and Chris Kunitz (goal, two assists). Additionally, three others had two points apiece, including Sidney Crosby (goal, assist), Bill Guerin (two assists), and Tyler Kennedy (goal, assist). May 21, 2017 - Matt Murray makes 25 stops for his fifth career playoff shutout [https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/m/murrama02/gamelog/playoffs] as the Penguins roll the Senators by a 7-0 in Game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead in the Eastern Conference Final. Surprisingly, not a single player had two goals, but seven skaters had two or more points, including Malkin and Carter Rowney, who had three helpers. Nick Bonino had two assists, while Crosby, Trevor Daley, Phil Kessel, and Bryan Rust each had a goal and an assist.
