1991–92 Detroit Red Wings season explained

The 1991–92 Detroit Red Wings season was the Red Wings' 60th season, the 66th for the franchise. The Wings made it to the second round of the playoffs before losing to the Chicago Blackhawks. The Red Wings, along with the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins, had five 30-goal scorers. This was also the first season for the now-retired NHL legend Nicklas Lidstrom.

Offseason

In the Entry Draft, the Wings picked Martin Lapointe in the first round, tenth overall. In the third round, the Wings picked their goaltender of the future, Chris Osgood.

Regular season

The Red Wings led the NHL in short-handed goals scored, with 18.^[1]

Season standings

Schedule and results

October

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Pts
1	October 3	Detroit	3 – 3	Chicago		0–0–1	1
2	October 5	Detroit	5 – 8	Toronto		0–1–1	1
3	October 10	Montreal	4 – 1	Detroit		0–2–1	1
4	October 12	Detroit	2 – 3	Minnesota		0–3–1	1
5	October 15	Edmonton	1 – 3	Detroit		1–3–1	3
6	October 17	St. Louis	3 – 6	Detroit		2–3–1	5
7	October 19	Detroit	6 – 1	Quebec		3–3–1	7
8	October 23	Winnipeg	3 – 2	Detroit		3–4–1	7
9	October 25	Toronto	0 – 4	Detroit		4–4–1	9
10	October 26	Detroit	1 – 6	Toronto		4–5–1	9
11	October 28	Los Angeles	4 – 3	Detroit		4–6–1	9
12	October 30	Buffalo	1 – 3	Detroit		5–6–1	11

November

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Pts
13	November 1	Hartford	5 – 8	Detroit		6–6–1	13
14	November 2	Detroit	1 – 4	Boston		6–7–1	13
15	November 5	Minnesota	3 – 2	Detroit		6–8–1	13
16	November 7	St. Louis	3 – 10	Detroit		7–8–1	15
17	November 8	Detroit	5 – 4	Washington		8–8–1	17
18	November 10	St. Louis	4 – 6	Detroit		9–8–1	19
19	November 12	Detroit	5 – 4	Calgary		10–8–1	21
20	November 14	Detroit	3 – 3	San Jose		10–8–2	22
21	November 16	Detroit	5 – 3	Los Angeles		11–8–2	24
22	November 19	Chicago	1 – 4	Detroit		12–8–2	26
23	November 22	Minnesota	3 – 4	Detroit		13–8–2	28
24	November 23	Detroit	2 – 2	Minnesota		13–8–3	29
25	November 25	Washington	4 – 5	Detroit		14–8–3	31
26	November 30	Detroit	3 – 7	St. Louis		14–9–3	31

December

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Pts
27	December 3	Calgary	2 – 5	Detroit		15–9–3	33
28	December 6	NY Rangers	5 – 6	Detroit		16–9–3	35
29	December 7	Detroit	2 – 2	New Jersey		16–9–4	36
30	December 10	Chicago	3 – 5	Detroit		17–9–4	38
31	December 12	Quebec	1 – 4	Detroit		18–9–4	40
32	December 14	Detroit	4 – 3	Calgary		19–9–4	42
33	December 15	Detroit	4 – 1	Edmonton		20–9–4	44
34	December 17	Detroit	1 – 2	Vancouver		20–10–4	44
35	December 21	Detroit	5 – 2	Los Angeles		21–10–4	46
36	December 28	Detroit	5 – 4	Toronto		22–10–4	48
37	December 29	Detroit	6 – 4	Chicago		23–10–4	50
38	December 31	Boston	5 – 3	Detroit		23–11–4	50

January

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Pts
39	January 3	Toronto	4 – 6	Detroit		24–11–4	52
40	January 4	Detroit	6 – 2	St. Louis		25–11–4	54
41	January 7	NY Islanders	5 – 2	Detroit		25–12–4	54
42	January 9	Minnesota	4 – 9	Detroit		26–12–4	56
43	January 11	Edmonton	5 – 5	Detroit		26–12–5	57
44	January 14	Detroit	2 – 6	NY Islanders		26–13–5	57
45	January 16	Pittsburgh	3 – 3	Detroit		26–13–6	58
46	January 21	Philadelphia	3 – 7	Detroit		27–13–6	60
47	January 23	Vancouver	3 – 1	Detroit		27–14–6	60
48	January 25	Detroit	7 – 0	New Jersey		28–14–6	62
49	January 29	Buffalo	4 – 4	Detroit		28–14–7	63
50	January 31	New Jersey	6 – 3	Detroit		28–15–7	63

February

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Pts
51	February 1	Detroit	3 - 4	Montreal		28-16-7	63
52	February 3	Detroit	4 - 4	Pittsburgh		28-16-8	64
53	February 5	Washington	1 - 4	Detroit		29-16-8	66
54	February 7	Toronto	4 - 3	Detroit		29-17-8	66
55	February 9	Detroit	5 - 5	NY Rangers		29-17-9	67
56	February 11	Detroit	3 - 4	Toronto		29-18-9	67
57	February 12	Detroit	9 - 4	Buffalo		30-18-9	69
58	February 15	San Jose	1 - 11	Detroit		31-18-9	71
59	February 17	St. Louis	3 - 5	Detroit		32-18-9	73
60	February 20	Toronto	2 - 3	Detroit		33-18-9	75
61	February 22	Chicago	1 - 2	Detroit		34-18-9	77
62	February 23	Detroit	4 - 0	Hartford		35-18-9	79
63	February 27	Detroit	2 - 4	Chicago		35-19-9	79
64	February 29	Detroit	3 - 2	St. Louis		36-19-9	81

March

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Pts
65	March 3	Winnipeg	4 - 3	Detroit		36-20-9	81
66	March 5	Minnesota	4 - 2	Detroit		36-21-9	81
67	March 7	Detroit	4 - 4	Quebec		36-21-10	82
68	March 8	Detroit	1 - 4	Montreal		36-22-10	82
69	March 12	Detroit	5 - 4	St. Louis		37-22-10	84
70	March 14	Detroit	1 - 4	Minnesota		37-23-10	84
71	March 15	Detroit	1 - 1	Winnipeg		37-23-11	85
72	March 17	Detroit	5 - 4	San Jose		38-23-11	87
73	March 20	NY Rangers	4 - 2	Detroit		38-24-11	87
74	March 22	Philadelphia	4 - 3	Detroit		38-25-11	87
75	March 24	Pittsburgh	2 - 4	Detroit		39-25-11	89
76	March 28	Vancouver	1 - 3	Detroit		40-25-11	91
77	March 29	Detroit	6 - 2	Vancouver		41-25-11	93
78	March 31	Chicago	3 - 3	Detroit		41-25-12	94

April

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Pts
79	April 12	Detroit	2 - 1	Chicago		42-25-12	96
80	April 14	Detroit	7 - 4	Minnesota		43-25-12	98

Playoffs

Detroit finished the regular season in first place in the Norris Division for the third time in their history, qualifying for the playoffs. The Wings won the Division Semi-Finals (4–3) against the Minnesota North Stars but lost the Division Finals (0–4) to the Chicago Blackhawks.

Player statistics

Forwards

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
	79	45	58	103	64
	80	32	54	86	72
	79	35	40	75	55
	80	34	35	69	30
	74	36	26	62	27
	79	19	32	51	118
	80	20	26	46	53
	63	20	24	44	276
	69	14	22	36	187
	35	6	10	16	83

Defencemen

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
	80	11	49	60	22
	62	10	24	34	136
	79	8	25	33	172
	79	7	22	29	118
	61	2	22	24	94
	26	0	8	8	14
	55	3	4	7	53

Goaltending

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

Player	GP	W	L	T	SO	GAA
	72	38	23	9	2	3.20
	10	3	2	3	0	2.71

Draft picks

Detroit's draft picks at the 1991 NHL Entry Draft held at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York.^[2]

Round		Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team
1	10	Martin Lapointe		Laval Titan (QMJHL)
2	32	Jamie Pushor		Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)
3	54	Chris Osgood		Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
4	76	Mike Knuble		Kalamazoo Wings (NAHL)
5	98	Dmitri Motkov		CSKA Moscow (USSR)
7	142	Igor Malykhin		CSKA Moscow (USSR)
9	186	Jim Bermingham		Laval Titan (QMJHL)
10	208	Jason Firth		Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
11	230	Bart Tuner		Michigan State University (CCHA)
12	252	Andrew Miller		Wexford Raiders (OJHL)
S	16	Kelly Sorensen		Ferris State University (CCHA)

References

• Red Wings on Hockey Database

Notes and References

1. Web site: 1991-92 NHL Summary.
2. http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl1991e.html 1991 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com