1991–92 Detroit Red Wings season

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.

1991–92 Detroit Red Wings
Norris Division champions
Division	1st Norris
Conference	1st Campbell
1991–92 record	43–25–12
Home record	24–12–4
Road record	19–13–8
Goals for	320
Goals against	256
Team information
General manager	Bryan Murray
Coach	Bryan Murray
Captain	Steve Yzerman
Alternate captains	Gerard Gallant Brad McCrimmon Bob Probert
Arena	Joe Louis Arena
Team leaders
Goals	Steve Yzerman (45)
Assists	Steve Yzerman (58)
Points	Steve Yzerman (103)
Penalty minutes	Bob Probert (276)
Plus/minus	Paul Ysebaert (+44)
Wins	Tim Cheveldae (38)
Goals against average	Vincent Riendeau (1.38)
← 1990–91 1992–93 →

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

Norris Division^[2]

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Detroit Red Wings	80	43	25	12	320	256	98
Chicago Blackhawks	80	36	29	15	257	236	87
St. Louis Blues	80	36	33	11	279	266	83
Minnesota North Stars	80	32	42	6	246	278	70
Toronto Maple Leafs	80	30	43	7	234	294	67

Campbell Conference^[3]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Detroit Red Wings	NRS	80	43	25	12	320	256	98
2	Vancouver Canucks	SMY	80	42	26	12	285	250	96
3	Chicago Blackhawks	NRS	80	36	29	15	257	236	87
4	Los Angeles Kings	SMY	80	35	31	14	287	296	84
5	St. Louis Blues	NRS	80	36	33	11	279	266	83
6	Edmonton Oilers	SMY	80	36	34	10	295	297	82
7	Winnipeg Jets	SMY	80	33	32	15	251	244	81
8	Calgary Flames	SMY	80	31	37	12	296	305	74
9	Minnesota North Stars	NRS	80	32	42	6	246	278	70
10	Toronto Maple Leafs	NRS	80	30	43	7	234	294	67
11	San Jose Sharks	SMY	80	17	58	5	219	359	39

Divisions: NRS – Norris, SMY – Smythe
bold – Qualified for playoffs

Schedule and results

1991–92 regular season[4]
October Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Points 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 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Points 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 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Points 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 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Points 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 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Points 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 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Points 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 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Record Points 79 April 12 Detroit 2 - 1 Chicago 42-25-12 96 80 April 14 Detroit 7 - 4 Minnesota 43-25-12 98
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

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 Semifinals (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
Steve Yzerman	79	45	58	103	64
Sergei Fedorov	80	32	54	86	72
Paul Ysebaert	79	35	40	75	55
Jimmy Carson	80	34	35	69	30
Ray Sheppard	74	36	26	62	27
Shawn Burr	79	19	32	51	118
Kevin Miller	80	20	26	46	53
Bob Probert	63	20	24	44	276
Gerard Gallant	69	14	22	36	187
Keith Primeau	35	6	10	16	83

Defensemen

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

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Nicklas Lidstrom	80	11	49	60	22
Steve Chiasson	62	10	24	34	136
Vladimir Konstantinov	79	8	25	33	172
Brad McCrimmon	79	7	22	29	118
Yves Racine	61	2	22	24	94
Doug Crossman	26	0	8	8	14
Brad Marsh	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
Tim Cheveldae	72	38	23	9	2	3.20
Greg Millen	10	3	2	3	0	2.71

Awards and records

Transactions

Draft picks

Detroit's draft picks at the 1991 NHL Entry Draft held at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York.^[5]

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