April 10, 1993: The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the New York Rangers, 4-2 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. It is the team's 17th straight win, and it remains the longest winning streak in NHL history.
It comes to an end 4 days later, at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and it's still not a loss: The Penguins and the New Jersey Devils end in a 6-6 tie. It's the team's last regular-season game, and they didn't lose another until they opened the next season, on October 5, losing 4-3 to the Philadelphia Flyers at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
The Penguins had won the last 2 Stanley Cups, beating the Minnesota North Stars in the 1991 Finals, and the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1992 Finals. They were loaded, with future Hall-of-Famers Mario Lemieux, Rick Tocchet, Ron Francis, Jaromir Jagr, Larry Murphy and Joe Mullen; and All-Stars Tom Barrasso, Kevin Stevens, Shawn McEachern, Ulf Samuelsson, Troy Loney, Martin Straka, Bob Errey, and Mike Ramsey, a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team that won the Gold Medal.
The Penguins faced the Devils again in the 1st Round of the 1993 Playoffs, and won the 1st 3 games, before the Devils won Game 4, 4-1 at the Meadowlands. But the Penguins clinched at home in Game 5. But, in an inspiring run, the New York Islanders beat the Penguins in Game 7 in Pittsburgh, 4-3, on an overtime goal by Dave Volek.
The Penguins remained one of the top teams in the NHL through the 2001 season, making the Eastern Conference Finals twice more. It would take a complete collapse, a near-bankruptcy, a near-move, and a complete rebuild for the Penguins to get back into the Stanley Cup Finals, in 2008, winning them in 2009. They would win the Cup again in 2016 and 2017.
In the 2016-17 season, the Columbus Blue Jackets won 16 straight, but couldn't make it 17, so they were stuck with the 2nd-longest winning streak in NHL history.
UPDATE: In 2024, the Edmonton Oilers had a 16-game winning streak, matching the '17 Jackets, but falling 1 game short of the '93 Pens.
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April 10, 1993 was a Saturday. There were 9 other games played in the NHL that day:
* The New Jersey Devils beat the Washington Capitals, 5-3 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.
* The New York Islanders lost to the Ottawa Senators, 5-3 at the Nassau Coliseum.
* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens, 5-1 at the Montreal Forum.
* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Hartford Whalers, 6-3 at the Colisée de Québec.
* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-0 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-2 at Expo Hall in Tampa.
* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Buffalo Sabres, 6-5 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
* The Minnesota North Stars beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-3 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. This turns out to be the last home victory for the North Stars. On April 13, at the Met Center, they lose 3-2 to the Blackhawks. And on April 15, in Detroit, they lose 5-3 to the Red Wings. They missed the Playoffs, and team owner Norm Green -- soon to be known as "Norm Greed" in Minnesota -- moved them to Texas, where they became the Dallas Stars. (I'll never understand why he didn't name them "the Dallas Lone Stars.")
* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the San Jose Sharks, 3-2 at the San Jose Arena. (It's now named the SAP Center.) Tomas Sandström scores the winning goal with 1:38 left in overtime.
There were 8 games played in the NBA that day:
* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers, 100-99 at the Brendan Byrne Arena.
* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Charlotte Hornets, 118-105 at the Charlotte Coliseum.
* The Miami Heat beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 119-114 at the Miami Arena. Hersey Hawkins scored 40 points in defeat for the Sixers.
* The Chicago Bulls beat the Indiana Pacers, 92-87 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. B.J. Armstrong scored 27 points, Michael Jordan 25.
* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Orlando Magic, 108-97 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.
* The Houston Rockets beat the San Antonio Spurs, 98-88 at The Summit in Houston. (The arena has since been converted into the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.") Hakeem Olajuwon had 45 points and 14 rebounds.
* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Denver Nuggets, 118-101 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
* And the Golden State Warriors beat the Dallas Mavericks, 100-94 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.
And a full slate of Major League Baseball games was played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox, 12-0 at the new Comiskey Park. (It is now named Rate Field.) Bernie Williams and Kevin Maas each collected 3 hits. Jimmy Key and John Habyan combined on a 7-hit shutout.
* The New York Mets lost to the Houston Astros, 6-3 at Shea Stadium. Former Yankee Doug Drabek outpitched Dwight Gooden.
The previous season had been a bad one for the Mets, having spent a lot of money on big stars, only to finish poorly -- perhaps a lesson for future Met teams. Steve Jacobson of Newsday had written a book about the 1977 World Champion Yankees, titling it The Best Team Money Could Buy. Bob Klapisch, Mets beat writer for the Daily News, wrote one about the 1992 Mets, titling it The Worst Team Money Could Buy.
Most of the Mets did not come off well in it, but most shrugged it off. Bronx native Bobby Bonilla did not, and he threatened Klapisch in the locker room after the game, telling him, "Make yo' move, 'cause I'll hurt you," and threatening to do to him what they did to guys in his old neighborhood: "I'll show you The Bronx." And yet, the much smaller Klapisch stood his ground. Bobby Bo didn't like that. The Mets' season went downhill from there.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-4 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 2-1 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Jody Reed singles home the winning run in the top of the 10th inning.
* The Florida Marlins beat the San Diego Padres, 2-1 at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. (It is now named Hard Rock Stadium.)
* The San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 12-5 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-4 at the SkyDome in Toronto. (It is now named the Rogers Centre.)
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium. Ozzie Smith singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-2 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City. (It was renamed Kauffman Stadium later in the season.)
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers, 10-2 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.
* The Colorado Rockies beat the Montreal Expos, 9-5 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the California Angels, 5-2 at Anaheim Stadium.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-3 at the Oakland Coliseum.
* And the Baltimore Orioles beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-3 at the Kingdome in Seattle.
Also, Arsenal traveled to Portman Road in Ipswich, Suffolk, and beat Ipswich Town, 2-1.
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