NHL STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS : Another Comeback Puts Penguins in Finals

Mark Recchi scored probably the biggest goal in Pittsburgh hockey history with 4:20 left as the Penguins rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat the Boston Bruins, 5-3, Saturday night and earn their first trip to the Stanley Cup finals.

“People were saying we weren’t even going to make the playoffs,” Coach Bob Johnson said. “(Now) we’re playing for the Stanley Cup. This team had many psychological barriers to overcome, but they overcame them all.”

Recchi’s shot from the right circle off Gord Roberts’ pass from the red line completed Pittsburgh’s fourth consecutive victory in the series and set up the first all-American final series in the NHL playoffs since the Minnesota North Stars met the New York Islanders in 1981.

The Penguins, who had missed the playoffs seven times in eight years before this season, will meet the Minnesota North Stars for the Cup beginning Wednesday in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh and Minnesota both joined the NHL in 1967.

Roberts, who scored Pittsburgh’s third goal and set up the fourth, played on Minnesota’s only other Cup finalist in 1981.

“We’re not going to think about Minnesota--at least not for a couple of more hours,” the Penguins’ Kevin Stevens said. “Even when we were down 2-0 (in the series), we knew we could beat Boston, even if a lot of people didn’t.”

Mario Lemieux had an empty-net goal, his 11th of the playoffs, and set up two earlier goals as the Penguins refused to fold after falling behind, 2-0, to a team they had rarely beaten until this series.

The Wales Conference championship touched off a huge celebration in the Civic Arena stands as Lemieux skated around the ice with the trophy. A mini-parade occurred downtown as cars took to the streets, horns and radios blaring as fans waved Penguins’ pompons and signs.

“It’s great, right? It’s a tremendous feeling for the city . . . the whole city’s happy, right?” Johnson said.