RICHMOND, Va. -- The Penguins’ 1996 semifinal playoff victory over the Rangers, despite the wildly successful 4-1 result, has always seemed less well-remembered than most of the other postseason series in the 66/68 era, at least in my experience. Perhaps because it was sandwiched between the previous thrilling series against the Caps (which included the 4OT marathon win) and the devastating loss to the clutch and grab Panthers in the conference final? For whatever reason, videos, photographs and articles seem uncharacteristically scarce.

Unfortunately, as impressive as matching hat tricks by a couple of the best players ever to lace up skates may have been, the most lasting and significant result of this game was probably the broken foot suffered by Ron Francis when he blocked a shot from Adam Graves (that guy again). Would the presence of #10 in the lineup have been enough to propel the Pens past the pesky Panthers and into the Stanley Cup final? It certainly couldn’t have hurt.

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ROB ULLMAN / DKPS

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