1994–95 Boston Bruins season

The 1994–95 Boston Bruins season was the team's 71st season. The Bruins had a solid season, finishing fourth in the Eastern Conference with 57 points. During the regular season, they had the most shots on goal (1,651) and allowed the fewest shots on goal (1,168) of any team in the league.^[1] They also allowed the fewest powerplay goals (24) and had the best penalty-killing % (86.89%) of all 26 teams.^[1]

1994–95 Boston Bruins
Division	3rd Northeast
Conference	4th Eastern
1994–95 record	27–18–3
Home record	15–7–2
Road record	12–11–1
Goals for	150
Goals against	127
Team information
General manager	Harry Sinden
Coach	Brian Sutter
Captain	Ray Bourque
Alternate captains	Cam Neely Adam Oates
Arena	Boston Garden
Average attendance	14,300
Minor league affiliate(s)	Providence Bruins
Team leaders
Goals	Cam Neely (27)
Assists	Adam Oates (41)
Points	Adam Oates (53)
Penalty minutes	Brent Hughes (139)
Plus/minus	Dave Reid (+8)
Wins	Blaine Lacher (19)
Goals against average	Blaine Lacher (2.41)
← 1993–94 1995–96 →

Offseason

Regular season

This season was the last at the historic Boston Garden for the Bruins before its closure as the team moved to the Fleet Center (now TD Garden) the following year.

Final standings

Northeast Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	1	Quebec Nordiques	48	30	13	5	185	134	65
2	3	Pittsburgh Penguins	48	29	16	3	181	158	61
3	4	Boston Bruins	48	27	18	3	150	127	57
4	7	Buffalo Sabres	48	22	19	7	130	119	51
5	10	Hartford Whalers	48	19	24	5	127	141	43
6	11	Montreal Canadiens	48	18	23	7	125	148	43
7	14	Ottawa Senators	48	9	34	5	117	174	23

^[2]

Eastern Conference^[3]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Quebec Nordiques	NE	48	30	13	5	185	134	65
2	Philadelphia Flyers	AT	48	28	16	4	150	132	60
3	Pittsburgh Penguins	NE	48	29	16	3	181	158	61
4	Boston Bruins	NE	48	27	18	3	150	127	57
5	New Jersey Devils	AT	48	22	18	8	136	121	52
6	Washington Capitals	AT	48	22	18	8	136	120	52
7	Buffalo Sabres	NE	48	22	19	7	130	119	51
8	New York Rangers	AT	48	22	23	3	139	134	47
9	Florida Panthers	AT	48	20	22	6	115	127	46
10	Hartford Whalers	NE	48	19	24	5	127	141	43
11	Montreal Canadiens	NE	48	18	23	7	125	148	43
12	Tampa Bay Lightning	AT	48	17	28	3	120	144	37
13	New York Islanders	AT	48	15	28	5	126	158	35
14	Ottawa Senators	NE	48	9	34	5	117	174	23

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast

bold – Qualified for playoffs

Playoffs

The Bruins were favored to win their quarterfinal playoff series against the New Jersey Devils, but were shocked by the Devils in the first two games at the Boston Garden by scores of 5–0 and 3–0. The Bruins won game three at the Meadowlands in New Jersey, 3–2, despite being outshot 33 to 17. Boston goaltender Blaine Lacher was solid in net, stopping 31 New Jersey shots. Game four on Friday, May 12 at the Meadowlands started out as a goaltending battle between Lacher and Martin Brodeur. The two teams skated to a 0–0 tie after three regulation periods. This game would prove to be the turning point in the series, as a Boston goal would tie the series at two games apiece and give the Bruins home-ice advantage once again; a New Jersey goal would put the Bruins down three games to one in the series and give the Devils a chance to take the series in game five in Boston. Devils forward Randy McKay ended up scoring the winner at 8:51 of the first overtime period. The Devils closed out the series in game five on Sunday, May 14, in what was the last official NHL game ever played at the Boston Garden.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} The Devils would go on to win their first Stanley Cup.

Schedule and results

Regular season

1994–95 regular season[9]
January: 3–2–0 (home: 2–1–0; road: 1–1–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 1 January 22, 1995 4–1 Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95) 1–0–0 W 2 January 23, 1995 2–1 @ New York Rangers (1994–95) 2–0–0 W 3 January 26, 1995 1–0 OT New Jersey Devils (1994–95) 3–0–0 W 4 January 28, 1995 1–2 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95) 3–1–0 L 5 January 30, 1995 1–2 Florida Panthers (1994–95) 3–2–0 L
February: 7–4–2 (home: 3–1–1; road: 4–3–1) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 6 February 2, 1995 6–4 Ottawa Senators (1994–95) 4–2–0 W 7 February 4, 1995 5–4 Hartford Whalers (1994–95) 5–2–0 W 8 February 7, 1995 7–4 Montreal Canadiens (1994–95) 6–2–0 W 9 February 9, 1995 3–4 Quebec Nordiques (1994–95) 6–3–0 L 10 February 11, 1995 1–1 OT Washington Capitals (1994–95) 6–3–1 T 11 February 12, 1995 2–1 @ Buffalo Sabres (1994–95) 7–3–1 W 12 February 14, 1995 3–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95) 7–4–1 L 13 February 17, 1995 5–4 @ Florida Panthers (1994–95) 8–4–1 W 14 February 18, 1995 1–3 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95) 8–5–1 L 15 February 22, 1995 2–3 OT @ Hartford Whalers (1994–95) 8–6–1 L 16 February 23, 1995 3–2 @ New Jersey Devils (1994–95) 9–6–1 W 17 February 25, 1995 1–1 OT @ Quebec Nordiques (1994–95) 9–6–2 T 18 February 27, 1995 2–0 @ Ottawa Senators (1994–95) 10–6–2 W
March: 7–6–0 (home: 4–3–0; road: 3–3–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 19 March 2, 1995 7–2 New Jersey Devils (1994–95) 11–6–2 W 20 March 4, 1995 3–4 OT Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95) 11–7–2 L 21 March 5, 1995 5–2 @ Hartford Whalers (1994–95) 12–7–2 W 22 March 7, 1995 1–3 Washington Capitals (1994–95) 12–8–2 L 23 March 9, 1995 2–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95) 12–9–2 L 24 March 11, 1995 0–2 Florida Panthers (1994–95) 12–10–2 L 25 March 16, 1995 6–0 Montreal Canadiens (1994–95) 13–10–2 W 26 March 18, 1995 4–3 New York Islanders (1994–95) 14–10–2 W 27 March 19, 1995 3–4 OT @ New Jersey Devils (1994–95) 14–11–2 L 28 March 22, 1995 2–6 @ Quebec Nordiques (1994–95) 14–12–2 L 29 March 24, 1995 4–3 OT @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95) 15–12–2 W 30 March 28, 1995 5–1 Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95) 16–12–2 W 31 March 30, 1995 3–2 @ New York Islanders (1994–95) 17–12–2 W
April: 8–6–1 (home: 5–2–1; road: 3–4–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 32 April 1, 1995 2–3 New York Rangers (1994–95) 17–13–2 L 33 April 2, 1995 1–2 @ Washington Capitals (1994–95) 17–14–2 L 34 April 6, 1995 1–1 OT Buffalo Sabres (1994–95) 17–14–3 T 35 April 8, 1995 5–1 Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95) 18–14–3 W 36 April 9, 1995 6–5 @ Buffalo Sabres (1994–95) 19–14–3 W 37 April 12, 1995 0–4 Quebec Nordiques (1994–95) 19–15–3 L 38 April 14, 1995 3–5 @ New York Rangers (1994–95) 19–16–3 L 39 April 15, 1995 3–2 @ Montreal Canadiens (1994–95) 20–16–3 W 40 April 19, 1995 4–1 Buffalo Sabres (1994–95) 21–16–3 W 41 April 20, 1995 6–5 @ Ottawa Senators (1994–95) 22–16–3 W 42 April 23, 1995 5–4 New York Rangers (1994–95) 23–16–3 W 43 April 24, 1995 3–5 @ New York Islanders (1994–95) 23–17–3 L 44 April 26, 1995 1–0 Hartford Whalers (1994–95) 24–17–3 W 45 April 28, 1995 1–4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95) 24–18–3 L 46 April 30, 1995 5–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95) 25–18–3 W
May: 2–0–0 (home: 1–0–0; road: 1–0–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 47 May 1, 1995 5–4 Ottawa Senators (1994–95) 26–18–3 W 48 May 3, 1995 4–2 @ Montreal Canadiens (1994–95) 27–18–3 W
Legend: W Win (2 points) L Loss (0 points) T Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

1995 Stanley Cup playoffs[9]
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. (5) New Jersey Devils – Devils win 4–1 Game Date Score Opponent Attendance Series Recap 1 May 7, 1995 0–5 New Jersey Devils 14,448 Devils lead 1–0 L 2 May 8, 1995 0–3 New Jersey Devils 14,448 Devils lead 2–0 L 3 May 10, 1995 3–2 @ New Jersey Devils 16,523 Devils lead 2–1 W 4 May 12, 1995 0–1 OT @ New Jersey Devils 19,040 Devils lead 3–1 L 5 May 14, 1995 2–3 New Jersey Devils 14,448 Devils win 4–1 L
Legend: W Win L Loss

Player statistics

Scoring

• Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
• † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Bruins only.
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Bruins only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season						Playoffs
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
12	Adam Oates	C	48	12	41	53	−11	8	5	1	0	1	−6	2
77	Ray Bourque	D	46	12	31	43	3	20	5	0	3	3	−5	0
8	Cam Neely	RW	42	27	14	41	7	72	5	2	0	2	−4	2
20	Bryan Smolinski	LW	44	18	13	31	−3	31	5	0	1	1	−2	4
19	Mariusz Czerkawski	RW	47	12	14	26	4	31	5	1	0	1	0	0
26	Mats Naslund†	LW	34	8	14	22	−4	4	5	1	0	1	−3	0
32	Don Sweeney	D	47	3	19	22	6	24	5	0	0	0	−4	4
21	Ted Donato	C	47	10	10	20	3	10	5	0	0	0	0	4
22	Jozef Stumpel	C	44	5	13	18	4	8	5	0	0	0	−1	0
23	Steve Heinze	RW	36	7	9	16	0	23	5	0	0	0	0	0
6	Alexei Kasatonov	D	44	2	14	16	−2	33	5	0	0	0	0	2
18	Brent Hughes	LW	44	6	6	12	6	139	5	0	0	0	−2	4
27	Steve Leach	RW	35	5	6	11	−3	68	—	—	—	—	—	—
38	Jon Rohloff	D	34	3	8	11	1	39	5	0	0	0	−1	6
17	Dave Reid	C	38	5	5	10	8	10	5	0	0	0	1	0
45	Sandy Moger	RW	18	2	6	8	−1	6	—	—	—	—	—	—
44	Glen Murray	LW	35	5	2	7	−11	46	2	0	0	0	−1	2
34	David Shaw	D	44	3	4	7	−9	36	5	0	1	1	−2	4
36	John Gruden	D	38	0	6	6	3	22	—	—	—	—	—	—
28	Jamie Huscroft	D	34	0	6	6	−3	103	5	0	0	0	0	11
48	Fred Knipscheer	LW	16	3	1	4	1	2	4	0	0	0	0	0
42	Mikko Makela	RW	11	1	2	3	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
40	Daniel Lacroix‡	C	23	1	0	1	−2	38	—	—	—	—	—	—
40	Brett Harkins	C	1	0	1	1	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
31	Blaine Lacher	G	35	0	1	1		4	5	0	0	0		0
29	Marc Potvin	RW	6	0	1	1	1	4	—	—	—	—	—	—
1	Craig Billington†	G	8	0	0	0		2	1	0	0	0		0
13	Grigori Panteleev	LW	1	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
37	Vincent Riendeau	G	11	0	0	0		2	—	—	—	—	—	—
49	Jeff Serowik	D	1	0	0	0	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
16	Cam Stewart	C	5	0	0	0	0	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
41	Guy Larose	C	—	—	—	—	—	—	4	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

• † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Bruins only.

No.	Player	Regular season											Playoffs
		GP	GS	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI	GP	GS	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
31	Blaine Lacher	35	34	19	11	2	805	79	2.41	.902	4	1,965:00	5	5	1	4	125	12	2.55	.904	0	282:48
1	Craig Billington†	8	6	5	1	0	140	19	3.05	.864	0	373:18	1	0	0	0	10	1	2.40	.900	0	25:01
37	Vincent Riendeau	11	8	3	6	1	221	27	2.86	.878	0	565:29	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	NHL Second All-Star team	Ray Bourque (Defense)	[10]
League (in-season)	NHL Rookie of the Month	Blaine Lacher (February)	[11]
Team	Elizabeth C. Dufresne Trophy	Cam Neely	[12]
	Seventh Player Award	Blaine Lacher	[12]
	Three Stars Awards	Cam Neely (1st)	[13]
		Ray Bourque (2nd)
		Blaine Lacher (3rd)

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Blaine Lacher	January 22, 1995	[14]
	Jon Rohloff	January 30, 1995
	Sandy Moger	March 22, 1995
	Brett Harkins	April 24, 1995
600th assist	Adam Oates	April 8, 1995	[15]

Draft picks

Boston's draft picks at the 1994 NHL entry draft in Hartford, Connecticut.^[16]

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team
1	21	Evgeni Ryabchikov (G)	Russia	Molot Perm (Russia)
2	47	Daniel Goneau (LW)	Canada	Laval Titan (QMJHL)
4	99	Eric Nickulas (RW)	United States	Cushing Academy (USHS-MA)
5	125	Darren Wright (D)	Canada	Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
6	151	Andre Roy (RW)	United States	Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)
7	177	Jeremy Schaefer (LW)	Canada	Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
9	229	John Grahame (G)	United States	Lake Superior State University (CCHA)
10	255	Neil Savary (G)	Canada	Hull Olympiques (QMJHL)
11	281	Andrei Yakhanov (D)	Russia	Salavat Yulaev Ufa (Russia)