1995–96 Pittsburgh Penguins season

The 1995–96 Pittsburgh Penguins season saw the return of Mario Lemieux after missing an entire season due to injuries. The Penguins improved to first in the Northeast Division and second overall in the Eastern Conference. In the 1996 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Penguins progressed to the Conference Finals before losing to the Florida Panthers.

Regular season

Mario Lemieux's return to the NHL after missing the entire 1994–95 season energized the Penguins and re-instituted the team's finesse game for the 1995–96 season. The Penguins finished second in the Eastern Conference with 102 points, leading all League teams in goals (362), even-strength goals (235), power-play goals (109), power-play percentage (25.95%) and shooting percentage while scoring 362 goals on just 2,645 shots (13.7%).^[1]^[2] Despite missing 12 regular-season games, Lemieux led the NHL in goals (69), assists (92), points (161) power-play goals (31) and shorthanded goals (8). Czech superstar Jaromir Jagr had a career year, scoring 62 goals (second in the League), 87 assists (third in the League) and 149 points (second in the League). The third 100-point scorer on the team was Ron Francis, who tallied 27 goals and 92 assists (tied for first in the NHL with Lemieux) for 119 points. Petr Nedved scored 45 goals and had 54 assists for 99 points in 80 games—he finished second in the NHL in shooting percentage, with 22.1%.^[3] Despite missing over a quarter of the season, Tomas Sandstrom also had a strong year, scoring 35 goals and picking up 35 assists for 70 points in 58 games.

Lemieux scored three goals or more in a game six times, and four goals or more in a game twice. On March 26, 1996, he scored five goals in a home game against the St. Louis Blues. Lemieux tallied two even-strength goals, two power-play goals and one short-handed goal in the game, which the Penguins won 8–4.

Season standings

Northeast Division
No.		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
1	Pittsburgh Penguins	82	49	29	4	362	284	102
2	Boston Bruins	82	40	31	11	282	269	91
3	Montreal Canadiens	82	40	32	10	265	248	90
4	Hartford Whalers	82	34	39	9	237	259	77
5	Buffalo Sabres	82	33	42	7	247	262	72
6	Ottawa Senators	82	18	59	5	191	291	41

Eastern Conference^[4]
R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Philadelphia Flyers	ATL	82	45	24	13	282	208	103
2	Pittsburgh Penguins	NE	82	49	29	4	362	284	102
3	New York Rangers	ATL	82	41	27	14	272	237	96
4	Florida Panthers	ATL	82	41	31	10	254	234	92
5	Boston Bruins	NE	82	40	31	11	282	269	91
6	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	40	32	10	265	248	90
7	Washington Capitals	ATL	82	39	32	11	234	204	89
8	Tampa Bay Lightning	ATL	82	38	32	12	238	248	88

9	New Jersey Devils	ATL	82	37	33	12	215	202	86
10	Hartford Whalers	NE	82	34	39	9	237	259	77
11	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	33	42	7	247	262	73
12	New York Islanders	ATL	82	22	50	10	229	315	54
13	Ottawa Senators	NE	82	18	59	5	191	291	41

Divisions: ATL – Atlantic, NE – Northeast

bold – Qualified for playoffs

Schedule and results

1995–96 Schedule

October: 4–2–2 (Home: 2–1–0 ; Road: 2–1–2), 10 Points

November: 10–3–1 (Home: 6–1–0 ; Road: 4–2–1), 21 Points

December: 10–4–0 (Home: 7–1–0 ; Road: 3–3–0), 20 Points

January: 7–7–0 (Home: 5–3–0 ; Road: 2–4–0), 14 Points

February: 6–5–1 (Home: 4–0–0 ; Road: 2–5–1), 13 Points

March: 9–5–0 (Home: 6–2–0 ; Road: 3–3–0), 18 Points

April: 3–3–0 (Home: 2–1–0 ; Road: 1–2–0), 6 Points

Legend: = Win = Loss = Tie

Playoffs

In the 1996 Playoffs, the Penguins advanced to the third round for the first time since 1992, defeating the Washington Capitals in six games and the New York Rangers in five games. In the Eastern Conference finals, the heavily favored Penguins were upset in seven games by the defense-oriented Florida Panthers.

1996 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals: 4–2 (Home: 1–2 ; Road: 3–0)

Eastern Conference Semifinals: 4–1 (Home: 2–1 ; Road: 2–0)

Eastern Conference Finals: 4–3 (Home: 2–2 ; Road: 1–2)

Legend: = Win = Loss

Suspensions

Player	Length	Date	Reason
Ron Francis	2 games	February 27, 1996	Checking from behind

Injuries

Player	Injury	Date
Tom Barrasso	Pulled Groin (DTD)	December 7, 1995
Tom Barrasso	Shoulder injury (Out Indefinitely)	February 5, 1996
Stefan Bergkvist	Appendectomy	February 21, 1996

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular Season^[5]
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Lemieux, MarioMario Lemieux	70	69	92	161	10	54
Jagr, JaromirJaromir Jagr	82	62	87	149	31	96
Francis, RonRon Francis	77	27	92	119	25	56
Nedved, PetrPetr Nedved	80	45	54	99	37	68
Sandstrom, TomasTomas Sandstrom	58	35	35	70	4	69
Zubov, SergeiSergei Zubov	64	11	55	66	28	22
Smolinski, BryanBryan Smolinski	81	24	40	64	6	69
Naslund, MarkusMarkus Naslund^‡	66	19	33	52	17	36
Mironov, DmitriDmitri Mironov	72	3	31	34	19	88
Murray, GlenGlen Murray	69	14	15	29	4	57
MacIver, NormNorm MacIver^‡	32	2	21	23	12	32
Joseph, ChrisChris Joseph	70	5	14	19	6	71
Roche, DaveDave Roche	71	7	7	14	−5	130
Tamer, ChrisChris Tamer	70	4	10	14	20	153
Wilkinson, NeilNeil Wilkinson^†	41	2	10	12	12	87
Miller, KevinKevin Miller^†	13	6	5	11	4	4
Leroux, FrancoisFrancois Leroux	66	2	9	11	2	161
Dziedzic, JoeJoe Dziedzic	69	5	5	10	−5	68
Park, RichardRichard Park	56	4	6	10	3	36
Daigneault, J. J.J. J. Daigneault^†	13	3	3	6	0	23
McLlwain, DaveDave McLlwain^†	18	2	4	6	−5	4
Lauer, BradBrad Lauer	21	4	1	5	−5	6
Foster, CoreyCorey Foster	11	2	2	4	−2	2
Wells, ChrisChris Wells	54	2	2	4	−6	59
Fitzgerald, RustyRusty Fitzgerald	21	1	2	3	7	12
Moran, IanIan Moran	51	1	1	2	−1	47
Patterson, EdEd Patterson	35	0	2	2	−5	38
Stojanov, AlekAlek Stojanov^†	10	1	0	1	−1	7
Berehowsky, DrakeDrake Berehowsky	1	0	0	0	1	0
Andrusak, GregGreg Andrusak	2	0	0	0	−1	0
Christian, JeffJeff Christian	3	0	0	0	0	2
Bergkvist, StefanStefan Bergkvist	2	0	0	0	0	2
Barrie, LenLen Barrie	5	0	0	0	−1	18
Berehowsky, DrakeDrake Berehowsky	1	0	0	0	1	0
Total		362	638	1,000	212	1,577

Playoffs^[6]
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Lemieux, MarioMario Lemieux	18	11	16	27	3	33
Jagr, JaromirJaromir Jagr	18	11	12	23	7	18
Nedved, PetrPetr Nedved	18	10	10	20	3	16
Zubov, SergeiSergei Zubov	18	1	14	15	9	26
Daigneault, J. J.J. J. Daigneault	17	1	9	10	4	36
Smolinski, BryanBryan Smolinski	18	5	4	9	−4	10
Francis, RonRon Francis	11	3	6	9	3	4
Roche, DaveDave Roche	16	2	7	9	1	26
Murray, GlenGlen Murray	18	2	6	8	2	10
Tamer, ChrisChris Tamer	18	0	7	7	0	24
Sandstrom, TomasTomas Sandstrom	18	4	2	6	−6	30
Miller, KevinKevin Miller	18	3	2	5	−6	8
Dziedzic, JoeJoe Dziedzic	16	1	2	3	1	19
Lauer, BradBrad Lauer	12	1	1	2	0	4
Leroux, FrancoisFrancois Leroux	18	1	1	2	2	20
Joseph, ChrisChris Joseph	15	1	0	1	1	8
Wilkinson, NeilNeil Wilkinson	15	0	1	1	−2	14
Mironov, DmitriDmitri Mironov	15	0	1	1	−6	10
Park, RichardRichard Park	1	0	0	0	0	0
Stojanov, AlekAlek Stojanov	9	0	0	0	0	19
Bergkvist, StefanStefan Bergkvist	4	0	0	0	−1	2
Foster, CoreyCorey Foster	3	0	0	0	−2	4
McLlwain, DaveDave McLlwain	6	0	0	0	0	0
Total		57	101	158	9	341

Goaltenders

Regular Season^[7]
Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	A	PIM
Barrasso, TomTom Barrasso	49	2,799:01	29	16	2	1	160	3.43	1,626	0.902	2	3	18
Wregget, KenKen Wregget	37	2,132:15	20	13	2	1	115	3.24	1,205	0.805	3	2	8
Total		4,931:16	49	29	4	2	275	3.35	2,831	0.903	5	5	26

Playoffs^[8]
Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	A	PIM
Wregget, KenKen Wregget	9	598:47	7	2	23	2.30	328	0.930	0	1	0
Barrasso, TomTom Barrasso	10	557:30	4	5	26	2.80	337	0.923	1	0	8
Total		1156:17	11	7	49	2.54	665	0.926	1	1	8

^†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 Team only.
– Denotes league leader.

Awards and records

Awards

Player	Award
Ron Francis	Player's Player Award Pittsburgh Penguins Masterton Nominee
Jaromir Jagr	Bob Johnson Memorial Award NHL First All-Star Team
Mario Lemieux	Most Valuable Player Award Booster Club Award Leading Point Scorer Award Hart Memorial Trophy Art Ross Memorial Trophy Lester B. Pearson Award NHL First All-Star Team
Petr Nedved	Unsung Hero Award Disaster Specialists "Baz" Bastien Memorial "Good Guy" Award
Dave Roche	Edward J. DeBartolo Community Service Award

Transactions

The Penguins have been involved in the following transactions during the 1995–96 season:^[9]

Trades

July 8, 1995	To Toronto Maple Leafs: Larry Murphy	To Pittsburgh Penguins: Dmitri Mironov 1996 second-round pick (#41–Josh DeWolf)
August 1, 1995	To Boston Bruins: Shawn McEachern Kevin Stevens	To Pittsburgh Penguins: Glen Murray Bryan Smolinski 1996 third-round pick (#72–Boyd Kane)
August 31, 1995	To New York Rangers: Ulf Samuelsson Luc Robitaille	To Pittsburgh Penguins: Petr Nedved Sergei Zubov
December 28, 1995	To Winnipeg Jets: Norm MacIver	To Pittsburgh Penguins: Neil Wilkinson
March 1, 1996	To Ottawa Senators: 1996 eighth-round pick (#212–Erich Goldmann)	To Pittsburgh Penguins: Dave McLlwain
March 20, 1996	To Vancouver Canucks: Markus Naslund	To Pittsburgh Penguins: Alek Stojanov
March 20, 1996	To St Louis Blues: 1996 sixth-round pick (#159–Stephen Wagner)	To Pittsburgh Penguins: J. J. Daigneault
March 20, 1996	To San Jose Sharks: 1996 fifth-round pick (#132–Elias Abrahamsson)	To Pittsburgh Penguins: Kevin Miller

Free agents

Player	Acquired from	Lost to	Date
Troy Murray		Colorado Avalanche	August 7, 1995
Corey Foster	Ottawa Senators		August 7, 1995
Peter Taglianetti		Boston Bruins	August 9, 1995
Peter Allen	Boston Bruins		August 10, 1995
Mike Hudson		Toronto Maple Leafs	August 28, 1995
Joe Mullen		Boston Bruins	September 8, 1995
John Cullen		Tampa Bay Lightning	September 11, 1995
Ladislav Karabin		Buffalo Sabres	September 20, 1995

Signings

Player	Date
Brad Lauer	August 10, 1995
Evgeny Davydov	August 10, 1995
Troy Crowder	August 10, 1995
Glen Murray	September 8, 1995

Other

Name	Date	Details
Evgeny Davydov	September 25, 1995	Released
Perry Ganchar	October 15, 1995	Retired

Draft picks

Pittsburgh Penguins' picks at the 1995 NHL Entry Draft.^[10]

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	24	Alexei Morozov	Right Wing	Russia	Krylya Sovetov (Russia)
3	76	Jean-Sebastien Aubin	Goaltender	Canada	Sherbrooke Faucons (QMJHL)
4	102	Oleg Belov	Center	Russia	CSKA Moscow (Russia)
5	128	Jan Hrdina	Center	Czech Republic	Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
6	154	Alexei Kolkunov	Center	Russia	Krylya Sovetov (Russia)
7	180	Derrick Pyke	Right Wing	Canada	Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
8	206	Sergei Voronov	Defense	Russia	Moscow Dynamo (Russia)
9	232	Frank Ivankovic	Goaltender	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OHL)

Draft notes^[11]

The Pittsburgh Penguins' second-round pick went to the Los Angeles Kings as the result of a July 29, 1994 trade that sent Luc Robitaille to the Penguins in exchange for Rick Tocchet and this pick.

Farm teams

The Hampton Roads Admirals of the East Coast Hockey League finished in fifth place in the East Division, but lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Richmond Renegades.

The Cleveland Lumberjacks of the International Hockey League (IHL) finished in third place in the Central Division, but were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Michigan K-Wings.

References

↑ http://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1996.html
↑ http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/PIT/1996.html
↑ http://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1996.html
↑ "1995–1996 Conference Standings". National Hockey League. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
↑ "1995–1996 – Regular Season – Pittsburgh Penguins – All Skaters – Summary – Points – NHL.com – Stats". NHL.
↑ "1995–1996 – Playoffs – Pittsburgh Penguins – All Skaters – Summary – Points – NHL.com – Stats". NHL.
↑ "1995–1996 – Regular Season – Pittsburgh Penguins – Goalie – Summary – Wins – NHL.com – Stats". NHL.
↑ "1995–1996 – Playoffs – Pittsburgh Penguins – Goalie – Summary – Wins – NHL.com – Stats". NHL.
↑ "Hockey Transactions Search Results". ProSportsTransactions. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
↑ "NHL Entry Draft Year by Year Results". NHL.com. Retrieved July 14, 2012.
↑ "1995 NHL Entry Draft Pending Transactions". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved July 14, 2012.

Penguins on Hockey Database

Pittsburgh Penguins

Founded in 1967
Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Franchise

History

Personnel

Owners: Ronald Burkle; Mario Lemieux
General manager: Jim Rutherford
Head coach: Mike Sullivan
Team captain: Sidney Crosby
Current roster

Arenas

Main facilities: Civic Arena; Consol Energy Center

Training facilities: Brantford Civic Centre; Rostraver Ice Garden; Island Sports Center; IceoPlex at Southpointe

Rivalries

Philadelphia Flyers

Affiliates

AHL: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

ECHL: Wheeling Nailers

General managers

Head coaches

Media

Networks

TV	Root Sports Pittsburgh

Radio	WXDX WBGG

Broadcasters

TV	Paul Steigerwald Bob Errey

Radio	Mike Lange Phil Bourque

Culture and lore

Pittsburgh Penguins seasons

1960s	1967–68 1968–69 1969–70

1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80

1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90

1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00

2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10

2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

1995–96 NHL season

Northeast Division	Boston Buffalo Hartford Montreal Ottawa Pittsburgh

Atlantic Division	Florida New Jersey NY Islanders NY Rangers Philadelphia Tampa Bay Washington

Central Division	Chicago Dallas Detroit St. Louis Toronto Winnipeg

Pacific Division	Anaheim Calgary Colorado Edmonton Los Angeles San Jose Vancouver

See also	Draft Rat trick Legion of Doom Stanley Cup Playoffs Stanley Cup Finals

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