No. 10 in an occasional series
Date: March 31, 1991
Game: Regular-season finale
Site: Madison Square Garden
Result: New York Rangers, 6-3
Three stars: 1) Rangers RW Mike Gartner. 2) Rangers C Corey Millen. 3) Rangers RW Paul Broten
The 1990-91 season might have been the most significant -- and satisfying -- in Penguins history.
It's when Bob Johnson, Craig Patrick and Scotty Bowman worked together for the only time.
When the Penguins claimed their first division championship.
When they won their first Stanley Cup.
A season unlike any other, before or after, for the franchise.
It stands to reason, then, that the most memorable game of the 167 Peter Taglianetti would play for them came during that season.
What couldn't be so easily predicted is the particular game that he cites.
It isn't the 7-4 victory in Detroit that clinched the Patrick Division title.
Not even the 8-0 victory in Minnesota that secured their Cup.
No, Taglianetti -- a rugged, blue-collar defenseman who had been acquired from the North Stars with Larry Murphy in mid-December -- settled on a regular-season game.
And not just any regular-season game.
The final one of 80.
One that meant absolutely nothing to the Penguins, since they'd locked up first place a few days earlier.
And one that ended in a fairly lopsided loss.
But while division championships and even Stanley Cups aren't necessarily once-in-a-lifetime events, what Taglianetti -- and a few others -- witnessed during the Penguins' 6-3 loss to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden that night just might have been.
For while players changing on the fly is a fundamental feature of the game at every level, it only involves forwards and defensemen.
Usually.
But on that night at Madison Square Garden, goalies Frank Pietrangelo and Wendell Young strayed from the script.
"Frankie was playing net and someone -- i think it was Kevin Stevens -- had put $1,000 up (for the team's fine/party fund) if they would change on the fly during the middle of a game," Taglianetti said. "It was at the beginning of the third period, I believe. The puck was in our end, and it goes down to the Rangers' end.
"Everybody was watching the play, and nobody realized that Frankie comes sprinting off the ice. Wendell jumps over the boards and gets in net and he's in net for about a minute and a half or so. Then the whistle blew (for a stoppage in play) and they changed again and nobody realized that had happened."
That included the off-ice officials. The official game sheet makes no mention of Young getting into the game; indeed, it lists Bruce Racine as his backup that night, although there is video that confirms it was Young who filled in briefly for Pietrangelo.
Taglianetti said he understands why the goalie swap went largely unnoticed -- "Who's looking at the backup goaltender on the bench?" -- and said he believes Johnson was among the many oblivious to what went on, even as Pietrangelo returned to the crease during a subsequent stoppage in play.
"I don't think he even knew about it, because everybody was watching the play," he said. "If you were on the bench, you saw Wendell jump over and you saw Frankie jump in, and really, nobody (else) even knew. (Assistant coach) Rick Kehoe probably knew about it, because he was with the defensemen, and the players on the bench and the trainers (also were aware)."
Everyone on the bench knew about a few other things that night, too, such as how several players were positioned to cash in by scoring that night.
"We had a bunch of guys who had bonuses coming up," Taglianetti said. "Randy Gilhen had a bonus for 15 goals. I think (Phil Bourque) had one for 20 goals. This is how much fun we were having: Randy Gilhen was on every power play for like two minutes. They were trying to get him his 15 goals."
Those efforts paid off. Bourque scored his 20th in that game, and Gilhen put in No. 15. (On the power play, with 36 seconds to go in regulation, no less.)
While Bourque and Gilhen undoubtedly appreciated how their teammates worked to get them some extra money, the unconventional goalie switch remains the game's signature moment.
It underscored the swashbuckling nature of that team, which was made up of big personalities and even bigger talents. (Indeed, the Penguins scratched no fewer than five future Hall of Famers -- Mario Lemieux, Mark Recchi, Paul Coffey, Bryan Trottier and Joe Mullen -- for that game.)
'That just kind of (exemplified) what the team was about," Taglianetti said. "Everybody was like, 'We're going to have a good time. We're going to play. We're going to win.' "
Which they did. On all counts.
