2006–07 Pittsburgh Penguins season

2006–07 Pittsburgh Penguins
Division	2nd Atlantic
Conference	5th Eastern
2006–07 record	47–24–11
Home record	26–10–5
Road record	21–14–6
Goals for	277
Goals against	246
Team information
General manager	Ray Shero
Coach	Michel Therrien
Captain	Vacant
Alternate captains	Sidney Crosby Sergei Gonchar John LeClair (Oct-Dec) Mark Recchi
Arena	Mellon Arena
Team leaders
Goals	Sidney Crosby (36)
Assists	Sidney Crosby (84)
Points	Sidney Crosby (120)
Penalty minutes	Jarkko Ruutu (125)
Plus/minus	Jordan Staal (+6)
Wins	Marc-Andre Fleury (40)
Goals against average	Jocelyn Thibault (2.83) Marc-Andre Fleury

The Pittsburgh Penguins 2006–07 Season was ripe with potential, as the team featured one of the largest groups of young stars in the National Hockey League. Evgeni Malkin, the second overall pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, defected from Russia prior to the season and joined the team. He promptly became the first NHL rookie since 1917 to score goals in each of his first six games. Malkin and second-year phenom Sidney Crosby were joined by 18-year-old Jordan Staal, who made the jump directly from the Ontario Hockey League to the Penguins roster after being drafted second overall in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. The Penguins also brought back Mark Recchi via free agency, giving Recchi his third stint with the team.

The season was clouded with uncertainty, however, about the Penguins' future in Pittsburgh. After Jim Balsillie had agreed to purchase the franchise for $175 million and to keep it in Pittsburgh, the situation seemed settled. Balsillie's deal fell through, though, in December. Isle of Capri Casinos was next to make a bid to keep the team in Pittsburgh, but their deal was nixed as well. On January 3, 2007, Penguins officials, including Mario Lemieux and other members of the team's ownership group, visited Kansas City, Missouri, to discuss potentials of relocating the team there. Other cities which reportedly have expressed interest in the franchise include Houston, Winnipeg, Portland, and Oklahoma City.

On March 14, 2007, in a joint announcement by Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, and Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins ownership group, it was made public that an agreement had been reached between the parties. A new state-of-the-art multi-purpose arena (the Consol Energy Center) will be built. This agreement will keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh for another thirty years. Following the announcement of this plan, the Lemieux ownership group announced that they no longer have plans to sell the team.

On January 9, 2007, the NHL announced that Sidney Crosby had been voted by the fans to start at forward in the 2007 All-Star Game in Dallas. Malkin, Staal, and defenceman Ryan Whitney were all invited to All-Star Weekend to play in the YoungStars game.

Regular season

Season standings

Atlantic Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	2	New Jersey Devils	82	49	24	9	216	201	107
2	5	Pittsburgh Penguins	82	47	24	11	277	246	105
3	6	New York Rangers	82	42	30	10	242	216	94
4	8	New York Islanders	82	40	30	12	248	240	92
5	15	Philadelphia Flyers	82	22	48	12	214	303	56

Note: No. = Division rank, CR = Conference rank, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
       Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game log

October

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
1	October 5	Philadelphia	0 – 4	Pittsburgh		Fleury	16,957	1–0–0	2
2	October 7	Detroit	2 – 0	Pittsburgh		Fleury	15,318	1–1–0	2
3	October 12	Pittsburgh	6 – 5	NY Rangers		Fleury	18,200	2–1–0	4
4	October 14	Carolina	5 – 1	Pittsburgh		Fleury	14,351	2–2–0	4
5	October 18	New Jersey	2 – 1	Pittsburgh		Fleury	17,030	2–3–0	4
6	October 19	Pittsburgh	4 – 3	NY Islanders	OT	Fleury	10,258	3–3–0	6
7	October 21	Columbus	3 – 5	Pittsburgh		Fleury	14,637	4–3–0	8
8	October 24	New Jersey	2 – 4	Pittsburgh		Fleury	13,190	5–3–0	10
9	October 28	Pittsburgh	8 – 2	Philadelphia		Fleury	19,589	6–3–0	12

November

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
10	November 1	Pittsburgh	4 – 3	Los Angeles	OT	Fleury	18,118	7–3–0	14
11	November 4	Pittsburgh	2 – 3	San Jose		Fleury	17,496	7–4–0	14
12	November 6	Pittsburgh	2 – 3	Anaheim	OT	Thibault	16,599	7–4–1	15
13	November 8	Tampa Bay	4 – 3	Pittsburgh	OT	Fleury	14,483	7–4–2	16
14	November 10	Ottawa	6 – 3	Pittsburgh		Fleury	17,052	7–5–2	16
15	November 11	Pittsburgh	2 – 6	Carolina		Thibault	18,726	7–6–2	16
16	November 13	Philadelphia	2 – 3	Pittsburgh		Fleury	13,781	8–6–2	18
17	November 17	Pittsburgh	2 – 4	Buffalo		Thibault	18,690	8–7–2	18
18	November 18	NY Rangers	1 – 3	Pittsburgh		Fleury	16,737	9–7–2	20
19	November 20	Pittsburgh	5 – 3	Philadelphia		Fleury	19,349	10–7–2	22
20	November 22	Boston	4 – 3	Pittsburgh	SO	Fleury	16,958	10–7–3	23
21	November 24	Pittsburgh	1 – 3	NY Islanders		Thibault	15,625	10–8–3	23
22	November 25	NY Rangers	2 – 1	Pittsburgh	OT	Fleury	17,134	10–8–4	24
23	November 28	NY Islanders	2 – 3	Pittsburgh		Fleury	17,082	11–8–4	26

December

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
24	December 1	Pittsburgh	2 – 5	New Jersey		Fleury	13,890	11–9–4	26
25	December 2	NY Islanders	5 – 3	Pittsburgh		Fleury	17,025	11–10–4	26
26	December 5	Florida	3 – 2	Pittsburgh		Thibault	12,511	11–11–4	26
27	December 7	Pittsburgh	2 – 3	NY Rangers	SO	Fleury	18,200	11–11–5	27
28	December 9	Pittsburgh	4 – 3	Atlanta	OT	Fleury	18,687	12–11–5	29
29	December 11	Pittsburgh	5 – 4	Washington	SO	Fleury	14,793	13–11–5	31
30	December 13	Philadelphia	4 – 8	Pittsburgh		Fleury	14,150	14–11–5	33
31	December 15	NY Islanders	4 – 7	Pittsburgh		Thibault	17,028	15–11–5	35
32	December 16	Pittsburgh	3 – 6	Montreal		Fleury	21,263	15–12–5	35
33	December 19	St. Louis	4 – 1	Pittsburgh		Fleury	17,017	15–13–5	35
34	December 21	Pittsburgh	3 – 4	Atlanta	OT	Thibault	17,328	15–13–6	36
35	December 26	Pittsburgh	0 – 3	New Jersey		Fleury	16,156	15–14–6	36
36	December 27	Atlanta	4 – 2	Pittsburgh		Fleury	17,132	15–15–6	36
37	December 29	Toronto	1 – 4	Pittsburgh		Fleury	17,132	16–15–6	38

January

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
38	January 2	Carolina	0 – 3	Pittsburgh		Fleury	16,957	17–15–6	40
39	January 5	Pittsburgh	4 – 2	Buffalo		Fleury	18,690	18–15–6	42
40	January 7	Tampa Bay	3 – 2	Pittsburgh	SO	Fleury	17,132	18–15–7	43
41	January 9	Pittsburgh	2 – 3	Tampa Bay		Fleury	19,226	18–16–7	43
42	January 10	Pittsburgh	2 – 5	Florida		Thibault	16,098	18–17–7	43
43	January 13	Pittsburgh	5 – 3	Philadelphia		Fleury	19,587	19–17–7	45
44	January 16	NY Islanders	2 – 5	Pittsburgh		Fleury	16,958	20–17–7	47
45	January 18	Pittsburgh	4 – 5	Boston	SO	Fleury	16,468	20–17–8	48
46	January 20	Toronto	2 – 8	Pittsburgh		Fleury	17,132	21–17–8	50
47	January 26	Pittsburgh	4 – 3	Dallas	SO	Fleury	18,594	22–17–8	52
48	January 27	Pittsburgh	7 – 2	Phoenix		Thibault	18,495	23–17–8	54
49	January 30	Florida	3 – 0	Pittsburgh		Fleury	15,405	24–17–8	56

February

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
50	February 1	Montreal	4 – 3	Pittsburgh	SO	Fleury	17,132	25–17–8	58
51	February 3	Washington	0 – 2	Pittsburgh		Fleury	17,132	26–17–8	60
52	February 4	Pittsburgh	3 – 4	Montreal	OT	Fleury	21,273	26–17–9	61
53	February 6	Nashville	1 – 4	Pittsburgh		Fleury	16,333	27–17–9	63
54	February 8	Pittsburgh	5 – 4	Philadelphia	SO	Fleury	19,512	28–17–9	65
55	February 10	Pittsburgh	6 – 5	Toronto	OT	Fleury	19,620	29–17–9	67
56	February 14	Chicago	4 – 5	Pittsburgh	SO	Fleury	17,051	30–17–9	69
57	February 16	Pittsburgh	5 – 4	New Jersey		Fleury	15,404	31–17–9	71
58	February 18	Washington	2 – 3	Pittsburgh		Thibault	17,132	32–17–9	73
59	February 19	Pittsburgh	5 – 6	NY Islanders		Fleury	15,472	32–18–9	73
60	February 22	Pittsburgh	2 – 1	Florida	OT	Thibault	17,102	33–18–9	75
61	February 25	Pittsburgh	1 – 5	Tampa Bay		Fleury	21,119	33–19–9	75
62	February 27	New Jersey	1 – 0	Pittsburgh		Fleury	17,006	33–20–9	75

March

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
63	March 2	Pittsburgh	4 – 3	NY Rangers	SO	Fleury	18,200	34–20–9	77
64	March 3	Pittsburgh	2 – 3	Carolina		Thibault	18,793	34–21–9	77
65	March 4	Philadelphia	3 – 4	Pittsburgh	SO	Fleury	17,132	35–21–9	79
66	March 6	Pittsburgh	5 – 4	Ottawa	SO	Thibault	20,074	36–21–9	81
67	March 8	New Jersey	4 – 3	Pittsburgh	SO	Fleury	17,132	36–21–10	82
68	March 10	NY Rangers	2 – 3	Pittsburgh	OT	Fleury	17,132	37–21–10	84
69	March 13	Buffalo	4 – 5	Pittsburgh	SO	Fleury	17,132	38–21–10	86
70	March 14	Pittsburgh	3 – 0	New Jersey		Thibault	14,862	39–21–10	88
71	March 16	Montreal	3 – 6	Pittsburgh		Fleury	17,132	40–21–10	90
72	March 18	Ottawa	3 – 4	Pittsburgh	SO	Fleury	17,132	41–21–10	92
73	March 19	Pittsburgh	1 – 2	NY Rangers		Thibault	18,200	41–22–10	92
74	March 22	Pittsburgh	1 – 3	NY Islanders		Fleury	14,574	41–23–10	92
75	March 24	Atlanta	1 – 2	Pittsburgh		Thibault	17,132	42–23–10	94
76	March 25	Boston	0 – 5	Pittsburgh		Fleury	17,132	43–23–10	96
77	March 27	Pittsburgh	4 – 3	Washington		Fleury	18,277	44–23–10	98
78	March 29	Pittsburgh	4 – 2	Boston		Fleury	17,095	45–23–10	100
79	March 31	Pittsburgh	4 – 5	Toronto	OT	Fleury	19,649	45–23–11	101

April

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
80	April 3	Buffalo	4 – 1	Pittsburgh		Fleury	17,132	45–24–11	101
81	April 5	Pittsburgh	3 – 2	Ottawa		Fleury	20,064	46–24–11	103
82	April 7	NY Rangers	1 – 2	Pittsburgh		Fleury	17,132	47–24–11	105

• Green background indicates win.
• Red background indicates regulation loss.
• White background indicates overtime/shootout loss.

Playoffs

The Pittsburgh Penguins ended the 2006–07 regular season as the Eastern Conference's fifth seed. They lost to the Ottawa Senators in five games, in the conference quarter-finals. They would sweep the Senators in the playoffs the following season.

• Green background indicates win.
• Red indicates loss.

2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Eastern Conference Quarter-finals vs #4 Ottawa: 1–4 (Home: 0–2 ; Road: 1–2) # Date Visitor Score Home Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 April 11 Pittsburgh 3 – 6 Ottawa Fleury 19,611 0–1 [1] 2 April 14 Pittsburgh 4 – 3 Ottawa Fleury 20,133 1–1 [2] 3 April 15 Ottawa 4 – 2 Pittsburgh Fleury 17,132 1–2 [3] 4 April 17 Ottawa 2 – 1 Pittsburgh Fleury 17,132 1–3 [4] 5 April 19 Pittsburgh 0 – 3 Ottawa Fleury 20,179 1–4 [5]

Player stats

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Sidney Crosby C 79 36 84 120 60 10 13 0 4 Evgeni Malkin C 78 33 52 85 80 2 16 0 6 Mark Recchi RW 82 24 44 68 62 1 14 0 3 Sergei Gonchar D 82 13 54 67 72 -5 10 1 3 Ryan Whitney D 81 14 45 59 77 9 9 0 2 Michel Ouellet RW 73 19 29 48 30 -3 11 0 2 Jordan Staal C 81 29 13 42 24 16 4 7 4 Colby Armstrong RW 80 12 22 34 67 2 1 1 3 Erik Christensen C 61 18 15 33 26 -3 6 0 1 Ryan Malone LW 64 16 15 31 71 4 1 1 0 Maxime Talbot C 75 13 11 24 53 -2 0 4 4 Jarkko Ruutu RW 81 7 9 16 125 0 0 0 2 Nils Ekman LW 34 6 9 15 24 -14 2 0 0 Dominic Moore C 59 6 9 15 46 1 0 0 0 Gary Roberts LW 19 7 6 13 26 -5 4 0 1 Josef Melichar D 70 1 11 12 44 1 0 0 0 Rob Scuderi D 78 1 10 11 28 3 0 0 0 John LeClair LW 21 2 5 7 12 -2 1 0 0 Ronald Petrovicky RW 31 3 3 6 28 4 0 0 1 Brooks Orpik D 70 0 6 6 82 4 0 0 0 Chris Thorburn C 39 3 2 5 69 1 0 0 1 Alain Nasreddine D 44 1 4 5 18 12 0 0 0 Mark Eaton D 35 0 3 3 16 -6 0 0 0 Marc-Andre Fleury G 67 0 3 3 4 0 0 0 0 Kris Letang D 7 2 0 2 4 -3 2 0 0 Noah Welch D 22 1 1 2 22 1 0 0 0 Georges Laraque RW 17 0 2 2 18 -3 0 0 0 Micki DuPont D 3 0 1 1 4 -3 0 0 0 Eric Cairns D 1 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 Joel Kwiatkowski D 1 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 Andre Roy RW 5 0 0 0 12 -1 0 0 0 Karl Stewart LW 3 0 0 0 2 -1 0 0 0 Jocelyn Thibault G 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T/OT GA GAA SO SA SV SV% Marc-Andre Fleury 3905 67 40 16 9 184 2.83 5 1954 1770 .906 Jocelyn Thibault 1101 22 7 8 2 52 2.83 1 572 520 .909 Team: 5006 82 47 24 11 236 2.83 6 2526 2290 .907

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Sidney Crosby C 5 3 2 5 4 0 1 0 1 Gary Roberts LW 5 2 2 4 2 0 1 0 0 Sergei Gonchar D 5 1 3 4 2 -3 1 0 0 Evgeni Malkin C 5 0 4 4 8 -1 0 0 0 Mark Recchi RW 5 0 4 4 0 -3 0 0 0 Jordan Staal C 5 3 0 3 2 -1 0 0 0 Ryan Whitney D 5 1 1 2 6 -4 1 0 0 Michel Ouellet RW 5 0 2 2 6 -1 0 0 0 Colby Armstrong RW 5 0 1 1 11 -2 0 0 0 Maxime Talbot C 5 0 1 1 7 -2 0 0 0 Erik Christensen C 4 0 0 0 6 -1 0 0 0 Mark Eaton D 5 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 Nils Ekman LW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Marc-Andre Fleury G 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Georges Laraque RW 2 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 Ryan Malone LW 5 0 0 0 0 -4 0 0 0 Josef Melichar D 5 0 0 0 2 -1 0 0 0 Brooks Orpik D 5 0 0 0 8 -2 0 0 0 Ronald Petrovicky RW 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 Jarkko Ruutu RW 5 0 0 0 10 -1 0 0 0 Rob Scuderi D 5 0 0 0 2 -1 0 0 0 Jocelyn Thibault G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO SA SV SV% Marc-Andre Fleury 287 5 1 4 18 3.76 0 150 132 .880 Jocelyn Thibault 8 1 0 0 0 0.00 0 1 1 1.000 Team: 295 5 1 4 18 3.66 0 151 133 .881

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Transactions

Trades

July 19, 2006	To Pittsburgh Penguins Dominic Moore Libor Pivko	To Nashville Predators 3rd round pick in 2007
July 20, 2006	To Pittsburgh Penguins Nils Ekman Patrick Ehelechner	To San Jose Sharks 2nd round pick in 2007
December 19, 2006	To Pittsburgh Penguins Wade Brookbank	To Boston Bruins future considerations
February 26, 2007	To Pittsburgh Penguins Gary Roberts	To Florida Panthers Noah Welch
February 27, 2007	To Pittsburgh Penguins Georges Laraque	To Phoenix Coyotes Daniel Carcillo 3rd round pick in 2007
February 27, 2007	To Pittsburgh Penguins 3rd round pick in 2007	To Minnesota Wild Dominic Moore
February 27, 2007	To Pittsburgh Penguins Joel Kwiatkowski	To Florida Panthers 4th round pick in 2007
February 27, 2007	To Pittsburgh Penguins Nolan Schaefer	To San Jose Sharks 7th round pick in 2007

Free Agents Acquired

Player	Former Team
D Mark Eaton	Nashville Predators
F Jarkko Ruutu	Vancouver Canucks
D Matt Carkner	San Jose Sharks
F Ronald Petrovicky	Atlanta Thrashers
F Mark Recchi	Carolina Hurricanes
G Andrew Penner	Columbus Blue Jackets

Free Agents Lost

Player	New Team
F Andy Hilbert	New York Islanders
F Matt Murley	Colorado Avalanche
F Matt Hussey	Detroit Red Wings
D David Koci	Chicago Blackhawks
G Sebastien Caron	Chicago Blackhawks
F Eric Boguniecki	Columbus Blue Jackets

Claimed off Waivers

Player	Former Team	Date
F Karl Stewart	Anaheim Ducks	September 27
F Chris Thorburn	Buffalo Sabres	October 3

Lost to Waivers

Player	New Team	Date
G Dany Sabourin	Vancouver Canucks	October 4
F Karl Stewart	Chicago Blackhawks	October 26
F Andre Roy	Tampa Bay Lightning	December 2

Draft picks

Pittsburgh's picks at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Penguins had the second overall draft pick, making the fourth consecutive draft the team had a pick in the top two: they had the first overall pick in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft (Marc-Andre Fleury), the second overall pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft (Evgeni Malkin) and the first overall pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft (Sidney Crosby).

Round	#	Player	Nationality	NHL Team	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	2	Jordan Staal (C)	Canada	Pittsburgh Penguins	Peterborough Petes (OHL)
2	32	Carl Sneep (D)	United States	Pittsburgh Penguins	Brainerd (USHS-MN)
3	65	Brian Strait (D)	United States	Pittsburgh Penguins	US National Team Development Program (NAHL)
5	125	Chad Johnson (G)	Canada	Pittsburgh Penguins	University of Alaska Fairbanks (NCAA)
7	185	Timo Seppanen (D)	Finland	Pittsburgh Penguins	HIFK (SM-liiga)

Farm teams

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are Pittsburgh's top affiliate in the AHL for the 2006–07 season.

Wheeling Nailers

The Wheeling Nailers are Pittsburgh's ECHL affiliate for the 2006–07 season.

External links

• Official website of the Pittsburgh Penguins

See also

• 2006–07 NHL Season

References

• Game log: Pittsburgh Penguins game log on espn.com
• Team standings: NHL standings on espn.com