1995–96 Pittsburgh Penguins season

1995–96 Pittsburgh Penguins
Northeast Division champions
Division	1st Northeast
Conference	2nd Eastern
1995–96 record	49–29–4
Home record	32–9–0
Road record	17–20–4
Goals for	362
Goals against	284
Team information
General manager	Craig Patrick
Coach	Eddie Johnston
Captain	Mario Lemieux
Alternate captains	Ron Francis Jaromir Jagr
Arena	Pittsburgh Civic Arena
Team leaders
Goals	Mario Lemieux (69)
Assists	Mario Lemieux (92)
Points	Mario Lemieux (161)
Penalty minutes	Francois Leroux (161)
Wins	Tom Barrasso (29)
Goals against average	Ken Wregget (3.24)

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%). 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%. 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

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

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) # Date Visitor Score Home Attendance Record 1 Apr 17 Washington Capitals 6–4 Pittsburgh Penguins 16,238 0–1 2 Apr 19 Washington Capitals 5–3 Pittsburgh Penguins 17,181 0–2 3 Apr 22 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–1 Washington Capitals 18,130 1–2 4 Apr 24 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–2 4OT Washington Capitals 18,130 2–2 5 Apr 26 Washington Capitals 1–4 Pittsburgh Penguins 17,215 3–2 6 Apr 28 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–2 Washington Capitals 17,256 4–2
Eastern Conference Semifinals: 4–1 (Home: 2–1 ; Road: 2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home Attendance Record 1 May 3 New York Rangers 3–4 Pittsburgh Penguins 17,181 1–0 2 May 5 New York Rangers 6–3 Pittsburgh Penguins 17,181 0–1 3 May 7 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–2 New York Rangers 18,200 2–1 4 May 9 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–1 New York Rangers 18,200 3–1 5 May 11 New York Rangers 3–7 Pittsburgh Penguins 17,355 4–1
Eastern Conference Finals: 4–3 (Home: 2–2 ; Road: 1–2) # Date Visitor Score Home Attendance Record 1 May 18 Florida Panthers 5–1 Pittsburgh Penguins 17,355 0–1 2 May 20 Florida Panthers 2–3 Pittsburgh Penguins 17,181 1–1 3 May 24 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–5 Florida Panthers 14,703 1–2 4 May 26 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–1 Florida Panthers 14,703 2–2 5 May 28 Florida Panthers 0–3 Pittsburgh Penguins 17,355 3–2 6 May 30 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–4 Florida Panthers 14,703 3–3 7 Jun 1 Florida Panthers 3–1 Pittsburgh Penguins 17,355 3–4
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

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Mario Lemieux	70	69	92	161	10	54
Jaromir Jagr	82	62	87	149	31	96
Ron Francis	77	27	92	119	25	56
Petr Nedved	80	45	54	99	37	68
Tomas Sandstrom	58	35	35	70	4	69
Sergei Zubov	64	11	55	66	28	22
Bryan Smolinski	81	24	40	64	6	69
Markus Naslund‡	66	19	33	52	17	36
Dmitri Mironov	72	3	31	34	19	88
Glen Murray	69	14	15	29	4	57
Norm MacIver‡	32	2	21	23	12	32
Chris Joseph	70	5	14	19	6	71
Dave Roche	71	7	7	14	–5	130
Chris Tamer	70	4	10	14	20	153
Neil Wilkinson†	41	2	10	12	12	87
Francois Leroux	66	2	9	11	2	161
Kevin Miller†	13	6	5	11	4	4
Richard Park	56	4	6	10	3	36
Joe Dziedzic	69	5	5	10	–5	68
Jean-Jacques Daigneault†	13	3	3	6	0	23
Dave McLlwain†	18	2	4	6	–5	4
Brad Lauer	21	4	1	5	–5	6
Corey Foster	11	2	2	4	–2	2
Chris Wells	54	2	2	4	–6	59
Rusty Fitzgerald	21	1	2	3	7	12
Ed Patterson	35	0	2	2	–5	38
Ian Moran	51	1	1	2	–1	47
Alek Stojanov†	10	1	0	1	–1	7
Drake Berehowsky	1	0	0	0	1	0
Stefan Bergqvist	2	0	0	0	0	2
Peter Allen	8	0	0	0	2	8
Len Barrie	5	0	0	0	–1	18
Jeffrey Christian	3	0	0	0	0	2
Greg Andrusak	2	0	0	0	–1	0
Total		362	638	1000	—	1,585

Playoffs

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Mario Lemieux	18	11	16	27	3	33
Jaromir Jagr	18	11	12	23	7	18
Petr Nedved	18	10	10	20	3	16
Sergei Zubov	18	1	14	15	9	26
Jean-Jacques Daigneault	17	1	9	10	4	36
Ron Francis	11	3	6	9	3	4
Dave Roche	16	2	7	9	1	26
Bryan Smolinski	18	5	4	9	–4	10
Glen Murray	18	2	6	8	2	10
Chris Tamer	18	0	7	7	0	24
Tomas Sandstrom	18	4	2	6	–6	30
Kevin Miller	18	3	2	5	–6	8
Joe Dziedzic	16	1	2	3	1	19
Francois Leroux	18	1	1	2	2	20
Brad Lauer	12	1	1	2	0	4
Chris Joseph	15	1	0	1	1	8
Neil Wilkinson	15	0	1	1	–2	14
Dmitri Mironov	15	0	1	1	–6	10
Corey Foster	3	0	0	0	–2	4
Richard Park	1	0	0	0	0	0
Dave McLlwain	6	0	0	0	0	0
Alek Stojanov	9	0	0	0	0	19
Stefan Bergqvist	4	0	0	0	–1	2
Total		57	101	158	—	341

Goaltenders

Regular Season

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Tom Barrasso	49	2799:01	29	16	2	160	3.43	1626	0.902	2	0	3	18
Ken Wregget	37	2132:15	20	13	2	115	3.24	1205	0.905	3	0	2	8
Total		4931:16	49	29	4	275	3.35	2831	0.903	5	0	5	26

Playoffs

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Ken Wregget	9	598:47	7	2	0	23	2.30	328	0.93	0	0	1	0
Tom Barrasso	10	557:30	4	5	0	26	2.80	337	0.923	1	0	0	8
Total		1156:17	11	7	0	49	2.54	665	0.926	1	0	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 Penguins only.

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 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:

Trades

July 8, 1995	To Toronto Maple Leafs Larry Murphy	To Pittsburgh Penguins Dmitri Mironov 1996 2nd round pick
August 1, 1995	To Boston Bruins Kevin Stevens Shawn McEachern	To Pittsburgh Penguins Glen Murray Bryan Smolinski 1996 3rd round pick
August 31, 1995	To New York Rangers Luc Robitaille Ulf Samuelsson	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 8th round pick	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 6th round pick	To Pittsburgh Penguins Jean-Jacques Daigneault
March 20, 1996	To San Jose Sharks 1996 5th round pick	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

Personnel

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	NHL Draft	Birthplace
38		Peter Allen	D	R	26	1991	Calgary, Alberta
28		Greg Andrusak	D	R	26	1988	Cranbrook, British Columbia
35		Tom Barrasso	G	R	31	1983	Boston, Massachusetts
9		Len Barrie	C	L	27	1988	Kimberley, British Columbia
55		Drake Berehowsky	D	R	24	1990	Toronto, Ontario
33		Stefan Bergqvist	D	L	21	1993	Leksand, Sweden
28		Jeffrey Christian	LW	L	25	1988	Burlington, Ontario
36		J. J. Daigneault	D	L	30	1984	Montreal, Quebec
16		Joe Dziedzic	LW	L	24	1990	Minneapolis, Minnesota
52		Rusty Fitzgerald	C	L	23	1991	Minneapolis, Minnesota
4		Corey Foster	D	L	26	1988	Ottawa, Ontario
10		Ron Francis (A)	C	L	33	1981	Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
68		Jaromir Jagr (A)	RW	L	24	1990	Kladno, Czech Republic
23		Chris Joseph	D	R	26	1987	Burnaby, British Columbia
14		Brad Lauer	RW	L	29	1985	Humboldt, Saskatchewan
66		Mario Lemieux (C)	C	R	30	1984	Montreal, Quebec
18		Francois Leroux	D	L	26	1988	Ste-Adele, Quebec
26		Dave McLlwain	C	L	29	1986	Seaforth, Ontario
8		Kevin Miller	C	R	30	1984	Lansing, Michigan
15		Dmitri Mironov	D	R	30	1991	Moscow, Russia
24		Ian Moran	D	R	23	1990	Cleveland, Ohio
27		Glen Murray	RW	R	23	1991	Halifax, Nova Scotia
93		Petr Nedved	C	L	24	1990	Liberec, Czech Republic
76		Richard Park	RW	R	20	1994	Seoul, South Korea
44		Ed Patterson	RW	R	23	1991	Delta, British Columbia
51		Dave Roche	LW	L	20	1993	Lindsay, Ontario
17		Tomas Sandstrom	RW	L	31	1982	Jakobstad, Finland
20		Bryan Smolinski	C	R	24	1990	Toledo, Ohio
11		Alek Stojanov	RW	L	23	1991	Windsor, Ontario
2		Chris Tamer	D	L	25	1990	Dearborn, Michigan
12		Chris Wells	C	L	20	1994	Calgary, Alberta
6		Neil Wilkinson	D	R	28	1986	Selkirk, Manitoba
31		Ken Wregget	G	L	32	1982	Brandon, Manitoba
56		Sergei Zubov	D	R	25	1990	Moscow, Russia

Draft picks

See also: List of Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks

Pittsburgh Penguins' picks at the 1995 NHL Entry Draft.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	24	Aleksey Morozov	Right Wing	Russia	Krylja 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	Krylja 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

• 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

• Penguins on Hockey Database