1994–95 Pittsburgh Penguins season

Despite the absence of Mario Lemieux, the 1994–95 Pittsburgh Penguins started the season off strong, by winning their first seven games. They remained undefeated in their first 13 games, going 12–0–1. However, after such a red-hot start to the season, the Penguins had a lukewarm record in their final 35 games, going 17–16–2. Jaromir Jagr won the Art Ross Trophy for most points (70), captain Ron Francis led the league in assists (48) and plus/minus (+30), and goaltender Ken Wregget led the league in wins (25). In a 7–3 Penguins' win over the Florida Panthers on February 7, Joe Mullen recorded an assist and became the first American-born NHL player to reach 1,000 points. Nine days later, Luc Robitaille scored four goals in a 5–2 Penguins win over the Hartford Whalers.

1994–95 Pittsburgh Penguins
Division	2nd Northeast
Conference	3rd Eastern
1994–95 record	29–16–3
Home record	18–5–1
Road record	11–11–2
Goals for	181
Goals against	158
Team information
General manager	Craig Patrick
Coach	Eddie Johnston
Captain	Ron Francis
Alternate captains	Ulf Samuelsson Kevin Stevens
Arena	Pittsburgh Civic Arena
Average attendance	16,108
Minor league affiliate(s)	Cleveland Lumberjacks
Team leaders
Goals	Jaromir Jagr (32)
Assists	Ron Francis (48)
Points	Jaromir Jagr (70)
Penalty minutes	Francois Leroux (114)
Plus/minus	Ron Francis (+30)
Wins	Ken Wregget (25)
Goals against average	Ken Wregget (3.21)
← 1993–94 1995–96 →

Off-season

Regular season

The Penguins had the highest shooting percentage in the NHL during the regular season, scoring 181 goals on just 1,400 shots (12.9%).^[1]

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

Despite finding themselves in a three-games-to-one series deficit against the Washington Capitals in the first round of the playoffs, the Penguins won Game 5 at home in overtime, 6–5, via Luc Robitaille's goal at 4:30 of the first overtime period. Peter Bondra, Dale Hunter, Jaromir Jagr and Kevin Stevens each scored twice in the game. Pittsburgh went on to win Game 6 in Washington, 7–1, and then closed out the series at home with a 3–0 victory in Game 7. It was the second time in four years that the Penguins had come back to defeat the Capitals after being down three games to one. The Penguins faced the New Jersey Devils in the second round, and won the opening game, 3–2. With only 1:15 remaining in Game 2, Jaromir Jagr tied the game at 2–2. The game seemed certain to head to overtime until a breakaway-goal by Devils captain Scott Stevens with just 29 seconds remaining. Claude Lemieux added an empty-net goal and the Devils tied the series with a 4–2 win. In the final three games of the series, the Penguins managed to score only three goals and were ultimately eliminated at home in Game 5, 4–1. The Devils would go on to win their first Stanley Cup.

Schedule and results

Regular season

1994–95 regular season[4]
January: 5–0–0 (home: 1–0–0; road: 4–0–0), 10 points # Date Visitor Score Home Record Points Recap 1 Jan 20 Pittsburgh Penguins 5–3 Tampa Bay Lightning 1–0–0 2 W 2 Jan 23 Pittsburgh Penguins 6–5 Florida Panthers 2–0–0 4 W 3 Jan 25 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–2 New York Rangers 3–0–0 6 W 4 Jan 27 Ottawa Senators 4–5 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–0–0 8 W 5 Jan 29 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–1 Washington Capitals 5–0–0 10 W
February: 9–3–2 (home: 7–1–1; road: 2–2–1), 20 points # Date Visitor Score Home Record Points Recap 6 Feb 1 New York Rangers 3–4 Pittsburgh Penguins 6–0–0 12 W 7 Feb 4 Tampa Bay Lightning 3–6 Pittsburgh Penguins 7–0–0 14 W 8 Feb 5 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–3 OT New Jersey Devils 7–0–1 15 T 9 Feb 7 Florida Panthers 3–7 Pittsburgh Penguins 8–0–1 17 W 10 Feb 9 Pittsburgh Penguins 5–2 New York Islanders 9–0–1 19 W 11 Feb 11 Montreal Canadiens 1–3 Pittsburgh Penguins 10–0–1 21 W 12 Feb 14 Boston Bruins 3–5 Pittsburgh Penguins 11–0–1 23 W 13 Feb 16 Hartford Whalers 2–5 Pittsburgh Penguins 12–0–1 25 W 14 Feb 18 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–4 Hartford Whalers 12–1–1 25 L 15 Feb 19 Buffalo Sabres 3–3 OT Pittsburgh Penguins 12–1–2 26 T 16 Feb 21 Quebec Nordiques 4–5 Pittsburgh Penguins 13–1–2 28 W 17 Feb 24 Tampa Bay Lightning 4–2 Pittsburgh Penguins 13–2–2 28 L 18 Feb 25 Pittsburgh Penguins 1–3 New York Islanders 13–3–2 28 L 19 Feb 27 Pittsburgh Penguins 7–5 Quebec Nordiques 14–3–2 30 W
March: 8–6–0 (home: 5–1–0; road: 3–5–0), 16 points # Date Visitor Score Home Record Points Recap 20 Mar 2 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–6 Buffalo Sabres 14–4–2 30 L 21 Mar 4 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–3 OT Boston Bruins 15–4–2 32 W 22 Mar 5 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–6 Philadelphia Flyers 15–5–2 32 L 23 Mar 7 Quebec Nordiques 5–4 Pittsburgh Penguins 15–6–2 32 L 24 Mar 9 New York Islanders 2–4 Pittsburgh Penguins 16–6–2 34 W 25 Mar 11 Buffalo Sabres 2–6 Pittsburgh Penguins 17–6–2 36 W 26 Mar 13 Montreal Canadiens 2–4 Pittsburgh Penguins 18–6–2 38 W 27 Mar 15 Pittsburgh Penguins 5–8 Montreal Canadiens 18–7–2 38 L 28 Mar 16 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–3 Quebec Nordiques 18–8–2 38 L 29 Mar 19 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–3 Ottawa Senators 19–8–2 40 W 30 Mar 21 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–2 Buffalo Sabres 20–8–2 42 W 31 Mar 24 New Jersey Devils 2–5 Pittsburgh Penguins 21–8–2 44 W 32 Mar 26 Pittsburgh Penguins 0–2 Florida Panthers 21–9–2 44 L 33 Mar 28 New York Islanders 3–6 Pittsburgh Penguins 22–9–2 46 W
April: 7–5–1 (home: 5–2–0; road: 2–3–1), 15 points # Date Visitor Score Home Record Points Recap 34 Apr 1 Philadelphia Flyers 2–3 Pittsburgh Penguins 23–9–2 48 W 35 Apr 5 Hartford Whalers 8–4 Pittsburgh Penguins 23–10–2 48 L 36 Apr 8 Pittsburgh Penguins 1–2 Montreal Canadiens 23–11–2 48 L 37 Apr 10 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–3 Ottawa Senators 24–11–2 50 W 38 Apr 11 Washington Capitals 1–3 Pittsburgh Penguins 25–11–2 52 W 39 Apr 15 Ottawa Senators 2–5 Pittsburgh Penguins 26–11–2 54 W 40 Apr 16 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–4 OT Philadelphia Flyers 26–12–2 54 L 41 Apr 18 New York Rangers 5–6 Pittsburgh Penguins 27–12–2 56 W 42 Apr 22 Washington Capitals 2–1 Pittsburgh Penguins 27–13–2 56 L 43 Apr 23 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–2 Hartford Whalers 28–13–2 58 W 44 Apr 26 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–3 OT New Jersey Devils 28–13–3 59 T 45 Apr 28 Boston Bruins 1–4 Pittsburgh Penguins 29–13–3 61 W 46 Apr 30 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–5 Boston Bruins 29–14–3 61 L
May: 0–2–0 (home: 0–1–0; road: 0–1–0), 0 points # Date Visitor Score Home Record Points Recap 47 May 2 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–7 Washington Capitals 29–15–3 61 L 48 May 3 Florida Panthers 4–3 Pittsburgh Penguins 29–16–3 61 L
Legend: W Win (2 points) L Loss (0 points) T Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

1995 Stanley Cup playoffs[4]
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. (6) Washington Capitals – Penguins win 4–3 Game Date Visitor Score Home Series Recap 1 May 6 Washington Capitals 4–5 Pittsburgh Penguins 0–1 L 2 May 8 Washington Capitals 5–3 Pittsburgh Penguins 1–1 W 3 May 10 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–6 Washington Capitals 1–2 L 4 May 12 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–6 Washington Capitals 1–3 L 5 May 14 Washington Capitals 6–5 OT Pittsburgh Penguins 2–3 W 6 May 16 Pittsburgh Penguins 7–1 Washington Capitals 3–3 W 7 May 18 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–0 Washington Capitals 4–3 W
Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. (5) New Jersey Devils – Devils win 4–1 Game Date Visitor Score Home Series Recap 1 May 20 New Jersey Devils 3–2 Pittsburgh Penguins 1–0 W 2 May 22 New Jersey Devils 2–4 Pittsburgh Penguins 1–1 L 3 May 24 Pittsburgh Penguins 1–5 New Jersey Devils 1–2 L 4 May 26 Pittsburgh Penguins 1–2 OT New Jersey Devils 1–3 L 5 May 28 New Jersey Devils 1–4 Pittsburgh Penguins 1–4 L
Legend: W Win L Loss

Suspensions

Player	Length	Date
Luc Robitaille	2 games	February 2, 1995

Injuries

Player	Injury	Date
Mario Lemieux	1–year leave for Hodgkin's Lymphoma treatment	August 29, 1994
Wayne McBean	Wrist surgery (Out indefinitely)	October 1, 1994
Tom Barrasso	Wrist surgery (Out indefinitely)	January 20, 1995
Greg Andrusak	Separated shoulder (DTD)	March 15, 1995
Tom Barrasso	Sore wrist (DTD)	May 3, 1995
Drake Berehowsky	Knee surgery (Out indefinitely)	July 1, 1995

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season[5] Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Jaromir Jagr 48 32 38 70 23 37 Ron Francis 44 11 48 59 30 18 Tomas Sandstrom 47 21 23 44 1 42 Luc Robitaille 46 23 19 42 10 37 Larry Murphy 48 13 25 38 12 18 John Cullen 46 13 24 37 –4 66 Joe Mullen 45 16 21 37 15 6 Kevin Stevens 27 15 12 27 0 51 Shawn McEachern 44 13 13 26 4 22 Ulf Samuelsson 44 1 15 16 11 113 Martin Straka‡ 31 4 12 16 0 16 Chris Joseph 33 5 10 15 3 46 Len Barrie 48 3 11 14 –4 66 Mike Hudson 40 2 9 11 –1 34 Norm MacIver† 13 0 9 9 7 6 Kjell Samuelsson 41 1 6 7 8 54 Greg Hawgood 21 1 4 5 2 25 Markus Näslund 14 2 2 4 0 2 Greg Andrusak 7 0 4 4 –1 6 Grant Jennings‡ 25 0 4 4 2 36 Jim McKenzie 39 2 1 3 –7 63 Francois Leroux 40 0 2 2 7 114 Chris Tamer 36 2 0 2 0 82 Troy Murray† 13 0 2 2 –1 23 Peter Taglianetti 13 0 1 1 1 12 Rusty Fitzgerald 4 1 0 1 2 0 Richard Park 1 0 1 1 1 2 Drake Berehowsky† 4 0 0 0 1 13 Jeff Christian 1 0 0 0 0 0 Total 181 316 497 — 1,010

Playoffs[6] Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Ron Francis 12 6 13 19 3 4 Larry Murphy 12 2 13 15 3 0 Jaromir Jagr 12 10 5 15 3 6 Luc Robitaille 12 7 4 11 5 26 Kevin Stevens 12 4 7 11 –5 21 Tomas Sandstrom 12 3 3 6 –5 16 Norm MacIver 12 1 4 5 –4 8 Troy Murray 12 2 1 3 –1 12 Joe Mullen 12 0 3 3 –5 4 Chris Joseph 10 1 1 2 –4 12 John Cullen 9 0 2 2 –4 8 Francois Leroux 12 0 2 2 0 14 Ulf Samuelsson 7 0 2 2 2 8 Shawn McEachern 11 0 2 2 –2 8 Kjell Samuelsson 11 0 1 1 –4 32 Len Barrie 4 1 0 1 –6 8 Drake Berehowsky 1 0 0 0 –1 0 Mike Hudson 11 0 0 0 –3 6 Rusty Fitzgerald 5 0 0 0 –1 4 Jim McKenzie 5 0 0 0 0 4 Peter Taglianetti 4 0 0 0 –3 2 Chris Tamer 4 0 0 0 –4 18 Ian Moran 8 0 0 0 0 0 Richard Park 3 0 0 0 –1 2 Total 37 63 100 — 223

Goaltenders

Regular Season^[5]

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Ken Wregget	38	2208:28	25	9	2	118	3.21	1219	0.903	0	0	0	14
Wendell Young	10	496:38	3	6	0	27	3.26	255	0.894	0	0	0	2
Philippe DeRouville	1	60:00	1	0	0	3	3.00	27	0.889	0	0	0	0
Tom Barrasso	2	125:00	0	1	1	8	3.84	75	0.893	0	0	0	0
Total		2890:06	29	16	3	156	3.24	1576	0.901	0	0	0	16

Playoffs<^[6]

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Ken Wregget	11	660:35	5	6	33	3.00	349	0.905	1	0	0	7
Tom Barrasso	2	80:00	0	1	8	6.00	41	0.805	0	0	0	2
Total		740:35	5	7	41	3.32	390	0.895	1	0	0	9

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Penguins. Stats reflect time with the Penguins only.
^‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Penguins only.

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	Art Ross Trophy	Jaromir Jagr	[7]
	Frank J. Selke Trophy	Ron Francis	[8]
	Lady Byng Memorial Trophy	Ron Francis	[9]
	Lester Patrick Trophy	Joe Mullen	[10]
	NHL First All-Star team	Jaromir Jagr (Right Wing)	[11]
	NHL Second All-Star team	Larry Murphy (Defense)	[11]
	NHL Plus-Minus Award	Ron Francis	[12]
Team	A. T. Caggiano Memorial Booster Club Award	Jaromir Jagr	[13]
	Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Good Guy Award	Larry Murphy	[14]
	Bob Johnson Memorial Badger Bob Award	Ron Francis	[14]
		Joe Mullen
	Leading Scorer Award	Jaromir Jagr
	Michel Briere Memorial Rookie of the Year Trophy	No winner	[15]
	Most Valuable Player Award	Jaromir Jagr	[16]
	Players' Player Award	Ron Francis	[15]
	The Edward J. DeBartolo Community Service Award	Ron Francis	[13]
		Bryan Trottier

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
1,000th point	Joe Mullen	February 7, 1995	[17]
400th goal	Luc Robitaille	February 19, 1995	[18]
First game	Philippe DeRouville	April 10, 1995	[19]
	Rusty Fitzgerald	April 15, 1995
	Richard Park	May 3, 1995
	Ian Moran	May 10, 1995	[20]
1,000th game played	Ron Francis	April 16, 1995	[21]

Transactions

The Penguins were involved in the following transactions during the 1994–95 season:^[22]

Trades

July 29, 1994	To Los Angeles Kings Rick Tocchet 1995 2nd round pick	To Pittsburgh Penguins Luc Robitaille
February 16, 1995	To Tampa Bay Lightning future considerations	To Pittsburgh Penguins Wendell Young
April 7, 1995	To Toronto Maple Leafs Grant Jennings	To Pittsburgh Penguins Drake Berehowsky
April 7, 1995	To Winnipeg Jets Greg Brown	To Pittsburgh Penguins cash
April 7, 1995	To Ottawa Senators Martin Straka	To Pittsburgh Penguins Norm Maciver Troy Murray

Free agents

Player	Acquired from	Lost to	Date
Jeff Christian	New Jersey Devils		August 2, 1994
Mike Ramsey		Buffalo Sabres	August 3, 1994
John Cullen	Toronto Maple Leafs		August 3, 1994
Len Barrie	Florida Panthers		August 15, 1994

Signings

Player	Date
Joe Dziedzic	August 10, 1994
Brian Farrell	September 20, 1994
Ryan Savoia	April 7, 1995

Other

Name	Date	Details
Allen Pedersen	September 20, 1994	Released
Doug Brown	January 18, 1995	Lost in waiver draft (to Detroit Red Wings)
Chris Joseph	January 18, 1995	Claimed in waiver draft (from Tampa Bay Lightning)
Francois Leroux	January 18, 1995	Claimed in waiver draft (from Ottawa Senators)
Mike Hudson	January 18, 1995	Claimed in waiver draft (from New York Rangers)
Wayne McBean	January 18, 1995	Claimed in waiver draft (from Winnipeg Jets)
Micah Aivazoff	January 18, 1995	Claimed in waiver draft (from Detroit Red Wings)
Micah Aivazoff	January 18, 1995	Lost in waiver draft (to Edmonton Oilers)

Draft picks

See also: List of Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks

Pittsburgh Penguins' picks at the 1994 NHL entry draft.^[23]

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	24	Chris Wells	Center	Canada	Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
2	50	Richard Park	Right wing	United States	Belleville Bulls (OHL)
3	57[a]	Sven Butenschon	Defense	Germany	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
3	73[b]	Greg Crozier	Left wing	Canada	Lawrence Academy (USHS–MA)
3	76	Alexei Krivchenkov	Defense	Russia	CSKA Moscow (Russia)
4	102	Tom O'Connor	Defense	United States	Springfield Olympics (EJHL)
5	128	Clint Johnson	Left wing	United States	East High School (Duluth) (USHS–MN)
6	154	Valentin Morozov	Center	Russia	CSKA Moscow (Russia)
7	161[c]	Serge Aubin	Center	Canada	Granby Bisons (QMJHL)
7	180	Drew Palmer	Defense	United States	Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
8	206	Boris Zelenko	Left wing	Russia	CSKA Moscow (RUssia)
9	232	Jason Godbout	Defense	United States	Hill-Murray School (USHS–MN)
10	258	Mikhail Kazakevich	Center	Russia	Torpedo Yaroslavl (Russia)
11	284	Brian Leitza	Goaltender	United States	Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)

Draft notes^[24]

• ^a The Hartford Whalers' third-round pick went to the Pittsburgh Penguins as a result of a March 10, 1992, trade that sent Frank Pietrangelo to the Whalers in exchange for a seventh-round pick and this pick.
• ^b The Boston Bruins' third-round pick went to the Pittsburgh Penguins as a result of an October 8, 1993, trade that sent Paul Stanton to the Bruins in exchange for this pick.
• ^c The Hartford Whalers' seventh-round pick went to the Pittsburgh Penguins as a result of a March 10, 1992, trade that sent Frank Pietrangelo to the Whalers in exchange for a third-round pick and this pick.

See also

• 1994–95 NHL season