1991 Stanley Cup Finals

Minnesota defeated the first-place overall Chicago Blackhawks 4–2, the second-place overall St. Louis Blues 4–2, and the defending Cup champion Edmonton Oilers 4–1 to advance to the Finals. The North Stars became the first American team and first Norris Division team to win the Campbell Conference since the league re-aligned the divisions and adopted a divisional-based playoff format in 1981.

Pittsburgh defeated the New Jersey Devils 4–3, the Washington Capitals 4–1 and the Boston Bruins 4–2.

Pittsburgh centre Mario Lemieux, despite missing a game due to a back injury, recorded 12 points in 5 games to lead all scorers and won the Conn Smythe Trophy. One of the most famous goals in NHL history was the goal he made in the second period of the second game. Receiving the puck between the Penguins blue line and the centre line, (on a delayed penalty call to Doug Smail) Lemieux skated solo into the North Stars zone facing two defensemen (Shawn Chambers and Neil Wilkinson) and the goaltender (Jon Casey) by himself. Lemieux skirted the puck through the legs of Chambers, skated around Chambers, baited goaltender Jon Casey to commit left (Lemieux's right), then switched the puck to his backhand side and slid the puck into the net before crashing into the net himself. The brief video of the goal has since been featured on recent Stanley Cup promo advertisements by the NHL.

Years indicated in boldface under the "Finals appearance" column signify that the player won the Stanley Cup in the given year.

Minnesota North Stars

#	Nat	Player	Position	Hand	Acquired	Place of birth	Finals appearance
23		Brian Bellows	LW	R	1982	St. Catharines, Ontario	first
21		Perry Berezan	C	R	1988–89	Edmonton, Alberta	second (1986) (did not play)
7		Neal Broten – A	C	L	1979	Roseau, Minnesota	second (1981)
28		Marc Bureau	C	R	1990–91	Trois-Rivières, Quebec	first
30		Jon Casey	G	L	1984–85	Grand Rapids, Minnesota	first
26		Shawn Chambers	D	L	1987	Royal Oak, Michigan	first
27		Shane Churla	RW	R	1989–90	Fernie, British Columbia	first
20		Mike Craig	RW	R	1989	London, Ontario	first
22		Ulf Dahlen	RW	L	1989–90	Östersund, Sweden	first
4		Chris Dahlquist	D	L	1990–91	Fridley, Minnesota	first
11		Gaetan Duchesne	LW	L	1989–90	Quebec City, Quebec	first
15		Dave Gagner – A	C	L	1987–88	Chatham, Ontario	first
12		Stewart Gavin	RW	L	1988–89	Ottawa, Ontario	first
2		Curt Giles – C	D	L	1987–88	The Pas, Manitoba	second (1981) (did not play)
6		Brian Glynn	D	L	1990–91	Iserlohn, West Germany	first
1		Brian Hayward	G	L	1990–91	Georgetown, Ontario	second (1989)
8		Jim Johnson	D	L	1991–92	New Hope, Minnesota	first (did not play)
17		Basil McRae – A	LW	L	1987–88	Beaverton, Ontario	first
9		Mike Modano	C	L	1988	Livonia, Michigan	first
16		Brian Propp	LW	L	1990–91	Lanigan, Saskatchewan	fifth (1980, 1985, 1987, 1990)
14		Doug Smail	LW	L	1990–91	Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan	first (did not play)
18		Bobby Smith	C	L	1990–91	North Sydney, Nova Scotia	fourth (1981, 1986, 1989)
24		Mark Tinordi	D	L	1988–89	Red Deer, Alberta	first
5		Neil Wilkinson	D	R	1986	Selkirk, Manitoba	first

Note: Neal Broten served as the North Stars acting team captain during the 1991 Stanley Cup playoffs. Curt Giles, who was injured late in the season and did not play in the playoffs, is listed as the official team captain.

Pittsburgh Penguins

#	Nat	Player	Position	Hand	Acquired	Place of birth	Finals appearance
35		Tom Barrasso	G	R	1988–89	Boston, Massachusetts	first
29		Phil Bourque	LW	L	1983–84	Chelmsford, Massachusetts	first
16		Jay Caufield	RW	R	1988–89	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	first (did not play)
77		Paul Coffey – A	D	L	1987–88	Weston, Ontario	fifth (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987)
12		Bob Errey – A	LW	L	1983	Montreal, Quebec	first
9		Ron Francis	C	L	1990–91	Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario	first
15		Randy Gilhen	C	L	1990–91	Zweibrücken, West Germany	first
23		Randy Hillier – A	D	R	1984–85	Toronto, Ontario	first (did not play)
38		Jiri Hrdina	C	L	1990–91	Prague, Czechoslovakia	second (1989)
68		Jaromir Jagr	RW	L	1990	Kladno, Czechoslovakia	first
3		Grant Jennings	D	L	1990–91	Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan	first
66		Mario Lemieux – C	C	R	1984	Montreal, Quebec	first
24		Troy Loney	LW	L	1982	Bow Island, Alberta	first
7		Joe Mullen	RW	R	1990–91	New York, New York	third (1986, 1989)
55		Larry Murphy	D	R	1989–90	Scarborough, Ontario	first
2		Jim Paek	D	L	1985	Seoul, South Korea	first
10		Barry Pederson	C	R	1991–92	Big River, Saskatchewan	first (did not play)
40		Frank Pietrangelo	G	L	1983	Niagara Falls, Ontario	first
8		Mark Recchi	RW	L	1988	Kamloops, British Columbia	first
28		Gordie Roberts	D	L	1990–91	Detroit, Michigan	second (1981)
5		Ulf Samuelsson	D	L	1990–91	Fagersta, Sweden	first
22		Paul Stanton	D	R	1985	Boston, Massachusetts	first
25		Kevin Stevens	LW	L	1983–84	Brockton, Massachusetts	first
32		Peter Taglianetti	D	L	1990–91	Framingham, Massachusetts	first
19		Bryan Trottier – A	C	L	1990–91	Val Marie, Saskatchewan	sixth (1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
34		Scott Young	RW	R	1990–91	Clinton, Massachusetts	first
1		Wendell Young	G	L	1988–89	Halifax, Nova Scotia	first (did not play)

Players

In Canada, the series was televised in English on the CBC and in French on SRC. p In the United States, the series aired nationally on SportsChannel America. However, SportsChannel America's national coverage was blacked out in the Minnesota and Pittsburgh areas due to the local rights to North Stars and Penguins games in those respective TV markets. In Minnesota, KMSP-TV aired games one, two and five while the Midwest Sports Channel had games three, four, and six. In Pittsburgh, KBL televised games one, two and five while KDKA aired games three, four, and six. Had there been a game seven, it would have aired on KMSP-TV in Minnesota and KBL in Pittsburgh respectively.

• 1990–91 NHL season
• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1990–91 Minnesota North Stars season
• 1990–91 Pittsburgh Penguins season

• Total Stanley Cup. NHL. 2000.
• Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Bolton, Ont: Fenn Pub. pp. 12, 50. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7.