1987–88 Pittsburgh Penguins season

1987–88 Pittsburgh Penguins
Division	6th Patrick
Conference	9th Wales
1987–88 record	36–35–9
Goals for	319
Goals against	316
Team information
General Manager	Eddie Johnston
Coach	Pierre Creamer
Captain	Dan Frawley (Oct-Dec) Mario Lemieux (Dec-Apr)
Alternate captains	Mario Lemieux (Oct-Dec) Dan Quinn Unknown
Arena	Pittsburgh Civic Arena
Team leaders
Goals	Mario Lemieux (70)
Assists	Mario Lemieux (98)
Points	Mario Lemieux (168)
Penalties in minutes	Rod Buskas (206)
Wins	Steve Guenette (12)
Goals against average	Steve Guenette (3.35)
<1986–87 1988–89>

The 1987–88 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the Penguins' twenty-first season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Penguins did not qualify for the playoffs.

Regular season

The Penguins were involved in one of the closest playoff races in NHL history, as they competed down the stretch with the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers for the final playoff spot in the Patrick Division. Despite two hefty losses to New Jersey in the last two weeks of the season, the Penguins gave themselves hope with a 7-6 overtime win against the Washington Capitals in their second to last game of the season. On the last day of the season, the Penguins defeated the Hartford Whalers 4-2 and moved ahead of New York and New Jersey. However, this position was temporary as the Rangers shut out Quebec, 3-0, to move back ahead of the Penguins. The Devils had the last laugh as they beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 in overtime on a goal by John MacLean to claim the fourth and final Patrick Division playoff spot ahead of the Rangers and Penguins.

The Penguins finished the regular season 1st in power-play opportunities (500), power-play opportunities against (507), power-play goals against (120) and short-handed goals allowed (19).^[1]

Final standings

Patrick Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
New York Islanders	80	39	31	10	308	267	88
Philadelphia Flyers	80	38	33	9	292	292	85
Washington Capitals	80	38	33	9	281	249	85
New Jersey Devils	80	38	36	6	295	296	82
New York Rangers	80	36	34	10	300	283	82
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	36	35	9	319	316	81

^[2]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
3	W	October 13, 1987	8–3	Buffalo Sabres (1987–88)	1–1–1
4	T	October 15, 1987	6–6 OT	New York Rangers (1987–88)	1–1–2
5	L	October 17, 1987	2–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1987–88)	1–2–2
6	L	October 18, 1987	2–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1987–88)	1–3–2
7	L	October 21, 1987	4–5	New Jersey Devils (1987–88)	1–4–2
8	L	October 23, 1987	2–5	@ Detroit Red Wings (1987–88)	1–5–2
9	W	October 24, 1987	5–3	Buffalo Sabres (1987–88)	2–5–2
10	T	October 27, 1987	4–4 OT	Los Angeles Kings (1987–88)	2–5–3
11	L	October 29, 1987	0–4	Toronto Maple Leafs (1987–88)	2–6–3
12	W	October 31, 1987	5–4 OT	@ Quebec Nordiques (1987–88)	3–6–3
13	W	November 3, 1987	5–1	Philadelphia Flyers (1987–88)	4–6–3
14	W	November 5, 1987	4–2	@ New York Islanders (1987–88)	5–6–3
15	L	November 7, 1987	1–4	@ Boston Bruins (1987–88)	5–7–3
16	W	November 11, 1987	3–2	Washington Capitals (1987–88)	6–7–3
17	L	November 12, 1987	2–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1987–88)	6–8–3
18	W	November 14, 1987	3–2 OT	New York Rangers (1987–88)	7–8–3
19	L	November 17, 1987	4–6	@ Vancouver Canucks (1987–88)	7–9–3
20	L	November 20, 1987	1–4	@ Edmonton Oilers (1987–88)	7–10–3
21	T	November 21, 1987	4–4 OT	@ Calgary Flames (1987–88)	7–10–4
22	W	November 25, 1987	6–4	Quebec Nordiques (1987–88)	8–10–4
23	W	November 27, 1987	4–2	@ Washington Capitals (1987–88)	9–10–4
24	T	November 28, 1987	5–5 OT	Washington Capitals (1987–88)	9–10–5
25	L	December 2, 1987	1–7	New York Islanders (1987–88)	9–11–5
26	W	December 5, 1987	6–3	Vancouver Canucks (1987–88)	10–11–5
27	W	December 9, 1987	5–2	Calgary Flames (1987–88)	11–11–5
28	W	December 11, 1987	6–4	New York Islanders (1987–88)	12–11–5
29	L	December 12, 1987	2–5	@ St. Louis Blues (1987–88)	12–12–5
30	L	December 15, 1987	2–5	Philadelphia Flyers (1987–88)	12–13–5
31	W	December 17, 1987	7–4	@ New Jersey Devils (1987–88)	13–13–5
32	W	December 19, 1987	4–3	New York Rangers (1987–88)	14–13–5
33	W	December 20, 1987	8–4	@ New York Rangers (1987–88)	15–13–5
34	L	December 23, 1987	2–6	New Jersey Devils (1987–88)	15–14–5
35	W	December 26, 1987	6–3	Detroit Red Wings (1987–88)	16–14–5
36	T	December 27, 1987	3–3 OT	@ Buffalo Sabres (1987–88)	16–14–6
37	T	December 29, 1987	4–4 OT	Boston Bruins (1987–88)	16–14–7
38	L	January 1, 1988	3–5	@ Washington Capitals (1987–88)	16–15–7
39	L	January 2, 1988	2–3	@ New York Islanders (1987–88)	16–16–7
40	T	January 5, 1988	4–4 OT	Los Angeles Kings (1987–88)	16–16–8
41	L	January 7, 1988	2–3	Boston Bruins (1987–88)	16–17–8
42	L	January 9, 1988	4–5 OT	@ Hartford Whalers (1987–88)	16–18–8
43	L	January 10, 1988	5–7	@ Detroit Red Wings (1987–88)	16–19–8
44	T	January 12, 1988	5–5 OT	New York Islanders (1987–88)	16–19–9
45	L	January 15, 1988	4–5	Philadelphia Flyers (1987–88)	16–20–9
46	W	January 16, 1988	4–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1987–88)	17–20–9
47	W	January 19, 1988	6–4	@ New York Islanders (1987–88)	18–20–9
48	W	January 20, 1988	8–3	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88)	19–20–9
49	W	January 23, 1988	4–3 OT	@ Montreal Canadiens (1987–88)	20–20–9
50	L	January 25, 1988	4–6	Edmonton Oilers (1987–88)	20–21–9
51	L	January 27, 1988	1–4	Winnipeg Jets (1987–88)	20–22–9
52	L	January 28, 1988	3–6	@ New Jersey Devils (1987–88)	20–23–9
53	W	January 30, 1988	4–2	Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88)	21–23–9
54	W	February 2, 1988	3–2 OT	Washington Capitals (1987–88)	22–23–9
55	W	February 4, 1988	1–0	Minnesota North Stars (1987–88)	23–23–9
56	W	February 6, 1988	5–4	Hartford Whalers (1987–88)	24–23–9
57	L	February 7, 1988	3–6	@ New York Rangers (1987–88)	24–24–9
58	W	February 13, 1988	7–5	@ Los Angeles Kings (1987–88)	25–24–9
59	L	February 17, 1988	0–5	@ Vancouver Canucks (1987–88)	25–25–9
60	L	February 19, 1988	3–7	@ Edmonton Oilers (1987–88)	25–26–9
61	L	February 21, 1988	4–5	St. Louis Blues (1987–88)	25–27–9
62	L	February 23, 1988	3–4 OT	Winnipeg Jets (1987–88)	25–28–9
63	L	February 25, 1988	1–2	@ New York Rangers (1987–88)	25–29–9
64	L	February 28, 1988	5–7	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88)	25–30–9
65	W	March 1, 1988	8–3	Minnesota North Stars (1987–88)	26–30–9
66	W	March 5, 1988	8–3	New York Islanders (1987–88)	27–30–9
67	W	March 7, 1988	5–4	@ Calgary Flames (1987–88)	28–30–9
68	L	March 10, 1988	4–6	@ St. Louis Blues (1987–88)	28–31–9
69	L	March 12, 1988	3–6	@ Minnesota North Stars (1987–88)	28–32–9
70	W	March 13, 1988	5–4	@ Winnipeg Jets (1987–88)	29–32–9
71	W	March 16, 1988	5–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1987–88)	30–32–9
72	W	March 19, 1988	7–0	Philadelphia Flyers (1987–88)	31–32–9
73	L	March 20, 1988	2–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1987–88)	31–33–9
74	W	March 23, 1988	7–1	Washington Capitals (1987–88)	32–33–9
75	W	March 25, 1988	5–2	Montreal Canadiens (1987–88)	33–33–9
76	W	March 27, 1988	6–3	@ Quebec Nordiques (1987–88)	34–33–9
77	L	March 29, 1988	0–4	@ New Jersey Devils (1987–88)	34–34–9
78	L	March 31, 1988	2–7	New Jersey Devils (1987–88)	34–35–9
79	W	April 2, 1988	7–6 OT	@ Washington Capitals (1987–88)	35–35–9
80	W	April 3, 1988	4–2	Hartford Whalers (1987–88)	36–35–9

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Lemieux, MarioMario Lemieux	C	77	70	98	168	92	23	22	10	7
Quinn, DanDan Quinn	C	70	40	39	79	50	-8	21	1	4
Cunneyworth, RandyRandy Cunneyworth	LW	71	35	39	74	141	13	14	0	6
Coffey, PaulPaul Coffey	D	46	15	52	67	93	-1	6	2	2
Bodger, DougDoug Bodger	D	69	14	31	45	103	-4	13	0	1
Brown, RobRob Brown	RW	51	24	20	44	56	8	13	0	1
Hunter, DaveDave Hunter	LW	59	11	18	29	77	8	0	2	1
Simmer, CharlieCharlie Simmer	LW	50	11	17	28	24	6	5	0	3
Callander, JockJock Callander	RW	41	11	16	27	45	-13	4	0	1
Simpson, CraigCraig Simpson	LW	21	13	13	26	34	5	4	0	3
Siren, VilleVille Siren	D	58	1	20	21	62	14	0	0	0
McLlwain, DaveDave McLlwain	C/RW	66	11	8	19	40	-1	1	0	0
Loney, TroyTroy Loney	LW	65	5	13	18	151	-3	1	0	0
Bourque, PhilPhil Bourque	LW	21	4	12	16	20	3	2	0	1
Frawley, DanDan Frawley	RW	47	6	8	14	152	0	1	2	1
Hillier, RandyRandy Hillier	D	55	1	12	13	144	-6	0	0	0
Johnson, JimJim Johnson	D	55	1	12	13	87	-4	0	0	0
Buskas, RodRod Buskas	D	76	4	8	12	206	6	0	0	1
Gotaas, SteveSteve Gotaas	C	36	5	6	11	45	-11	0	0	1
Zalapski, ZarleyZarley Zalapski	D	15	3	8	11	7	10	0	0	0
Mantha, MoeMoe Mantha	D	21	2	8	10	23	6	1	0	1
Dahlquist, ChrisChris Dahlquist	D	44	3	6	9	69	3	0	0	0
Errey, BobBob Errey	LW	17	3	6	9	18	6	0	0	0
Kachowski, MarkMark Kachowski	LW	38	5	3	8	126	1	0	0	1
Paiement, WilfWilf Paiement	RW	23	2	6	8	39	-4	0	0	0
Kontos, ChrisChris Kontos	LW/C	36	1	7	8	12	-3	0	0	0
Stevens, KevinKevin Stevens	LW	16	5	2	7	8	-6	2	0	0
Hannan, DaveDave Hannan	C	21	4	3	7	23	-2	0	1	1
Ganchar, PerryPerry Ganchar	RW	30	2	5	7	36	0	0	0	0
Mathiasen, DwightDwight Mathiasen	RW	23	0	6	6	14	-7	0	0	0
Erickson, BryanBryan Erickson	RW	11	1	4	5	0	2	0	0	0
Van Dorp, WayneWayne Van Dorp	LW	25	1	3	4	75	2	0	0	0
Joseph, ChrisChris Joseph	D	17	0	4	4	12	2	0	0	0
Schmidt, NormNorm Schmidt	D	5	1	2	3	0	1	0	0	0
Charlesworth, ToddTodd Charlesworth	D	6	2	0	2	2	0	0	0	0
Aitken, BradBrad Aitken	LW	5	1	1	2	0	1	0	0	0
Giffin, LeeLee Giffin	RW	19	0	2	2	9	-2	0	0	0
Pietrangelo, FrankFrank Pietrangelo	G	21	0	2	2	2	0	0	0	0
Gruhl, ScottScott Gruhl	LW	6	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Goertz, DaveDave Goertz	D	2	0	0	0	2	-1	0	0	0
Guenette, SteveSteve Guenette	G	19	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Mann, JimmyJimmy Mann	RW	9	0	0	0	53	0	0	0	0
Mayer, PatPat Mayer	D	1	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0
Meloche, GillesGilles Meloche	G	27	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Riggin, PatPat Riggin	G	22	0	0	0	12	0	0	0	0
Young, WarrenWarren Young	C	7	0	0	0	15	-4	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Guenette, SteveSteve Guenette	1092	19	12	7	0	61	3.35	1	582	521	.895
Pietrangelo, FrankFrank Pietrangelo	1207	21	9	11	0	80	3.98	1	600	520	.867
Meloche, GillesGilles Meloche	1394	27	8	9	5	95	4.09	0	722	627	.868
Riggin, PatPat Riggin	1169	22	7	8	4	76	3.90	0	580	504	.869
Team:	4862	80	36	35	9	312	3.85	2	2484	2172	.874

^[3]

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals
      MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; SO = Shutouts; SA=Shots Against; SV=Shots saved; SV% = Save Percentage;

Transactions

The Penguins were involved in the following transactions during the 1987–88 season:

Trades

November 24, 1987	To Pittsburgh Penguins Paul Coffey Dave Hunter Wayne Van Dorp	To Edmonton Oilers Dave Hannan Chris Joseph Moe Mantha Craig Simpson
December 17, 1987	To Pittsburgh Penguins Perry Ganchar	To Montreal Canadiens future considerations
February 5, 1988	To Pittsburgh Penguins Bryan Erickson	To Los Angeles Kings Chris Kontos 6th round pick in 1988 Draft (Micah Aivazoff)

Additions and subtractions

Additions Player Former team Via Jimmy Mann Quebec Nordiques free agency (1987-06-16) Pat Mayer Muskegon Lumberjacks (IHL) free agency (1987-07-10) Jock Callander St. Louis Blues free agency (1987-07-31) Mark Kachowski Flint Spirits (IHL) free agency (1987-08-31) Wilf Paiement Buffalo Sabres free agency (1987-09-10) Charlie Simmer Boston Bruins Waiver Draft (1987-10-05) Scott Gruhl Muskegon Lumberjacks (IHL) free agency (1987-12-14)

Subtractions Player New team Via John Chabot Detroit Red Wings free agency (1987-06-25) Neil Belland Lukko (SM-liiga) free agency Kevin LaVallee Innsbrucker EV (Austria) free agency Terry Ruskowski Minnesota North Stars free agency (1987-07) Dwight Schofield Winnipeg Jets free agency (1987-07) Mike Blaisdell Toronto Maple Leafs free agency (1987-07-10)

See also

• 1987–88 NHL season

References

• "1987–88 Pittsburgh Penguins Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-06. 

External links

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