2010–11 Pittsburgh Penguins season

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2010–11 Pittsburgh Penguins
Division 2nd Atlantic
Conference 4th Eastern
2010–11 record 49–25–8
Home record 25–14–2
Road record 24–11–6
Goals for 238
Goals against 199
Team information
General Manager Ray Shero
Coach Dan Bylsma
Captain Sidney Crosby
Alternate captains Evgeni Malkin
Brooks Orpik
Jordan Staal
Arena Consol Energy Center
Heinz Field (1 game)
Average attendance 18,240 (100.9%)[1]
(40 games)
Team leaders
Goals Sidney Crosby (32)
Assists Kris Letang (42)
Points Sidney Crosby (66)
Penalties in minutes Matt Cooke (129)
Plus/minus Sidney Crosby (+20)
Alex Goligoski (+20)
Wins Marc-Andre Fleury (36)
Goals against average Brent Johnson (2.17)
<2009–10 2011–12>

The 2010–11 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the 44th season of the franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Penguins began the season in their new arena, CONSOL Energy Center, which is adjacent from their old facility, Mellon Arena, which had been the third smallest and oldest arena in the NHL. The Penguins also hosted the 2011 NHL Winter Classic against the Washington Capitals at Heinz Field, home of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers and NCAA's's Pittsburgh Panthers football.

Pre-season

On June 16, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced that they will play a six-game pre-season, including the first-ever game at the new Consol Energy Center on September 22 against the Detroit Red Wings.[2]

On July 26, 2010, longtime Penguins PA announcer John Barbaro died of brain cancer at 65.

Game log

Legend:           = Win           = Loss           = OT/SO Loss

Regular season

First half

The Penguins inaugurated their new arena on October 7 with a home opener against their in-state rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, the defending Eastern Conference champions, whom they will play three times in the first month of the season. However, rookie Flyers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made his NHL debut, leading his team to a 3–2 victory.[3] Flyers forward Daniel Briere scored the first goal in the new building. In the first month of the season, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury struggled, posting a 1–5 record for the month while backup goaltender Brent Johnson was 5–0–1 and posting a shutout in the final game of the month against the Carolina Hurricanes. Injuries were another trend for the first month of the season, with Jordan Staal failing to play the first month of the season with an infection in his foot. Other injuries to Zbynek Michalek and Brooks Orpik weakened the defensive unit during the first month.

After 41 games, the midpoint of the season, the Penguins held a 26–12–3 record with 55 points, a two-point improvement over last season and good for second in the division behind the Philadelphia Flyers and fourth in the Eastern Conference.

2011 Winter Classic

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The Penguins held the 2011 NHL Winter Classic at Heinz Field on January 1 against the Washington Capitals. This matchup pitted the two premiere stars of the game against each other, Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin. The Capitals won the contest however 3–1, overcoming a 1–0 Penguins lead in which Evgeni Malkin scored the lone Penguins goal. Jordan Staal made a return to the Penguins lineup in the Winter Classic after being held out all of the 2010 contests of the season due to foot and hand injuries.

Crosby suffered a concussion in an open ice hit in the Winter Classic but remained in the game and took part in the following contest with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Against Tampa Bay, however, he was hit again, this time behind the net against the boards and further aggravated his concussion. Crosby was held out games from January 7 through the end of the regular season.

Second half

Defenseman Kris Letang had a breakout first half of the season, sitting second on the team in points scored behind center Sidney Crosby. Letang, Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury were named to the roster of the 2011 NHL All-Star Game, though only Letang and Fleury made appearances, as Crosby and Malkin were held out of the contest with head and lower body injures, respectively.

Malkin also missed multiple games in late January due to a lingering lower body injury and a sinus infection. He returned to the lineup against the Buffalo Sabres on February 4, but reactivated the injury during a hit by Tyler Myers in the second period, tearing his right medial collateral ligament (MCL) and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

Crosby and Malkin were injured for most of January and into February. In spite of these injuries, the Penguins still held onto second place in the Division and fourth place in the Conference for most of the first half and middle of the season, going 8–3–1 without Crosby, which includes 4–1–0 without both Crosby and Malkin during the same 8–3–1 span.

Due to the absence of Malkin and Crosby, the Penguin's offensive was not nearly as productive. This led General Manager Ray Shero to make personnel adjustments before the February trade deadline. On February 21, the Penguins traded defenseman Alex Goligoski to the Dallas Stars for left winger James Neal and defenseman Matt Niskanen. The organization also acquired right winger Alex Kovalev from the Ottawa Senators for a conditional draft pick on February 24.

On March 25, the Penguins defeated the New Jersey Devils 1–0 in a shootout. James Neal scored the lone goal, marking the fourth year in a row the Penguins have won a game on March 25 in a shutout and the first to go to overtime or a shootout.

On March 28, the Penguins set an NHL record by winning their fourth consecutive game in a shootout. During the stretch, the team defeated the Detroit Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils and Florida Panthers in a seven-day period.[4]

The Penguins concluded the regular season with the best penalty-kill percentage in the NHL, at 86.11%[5]

Game log

2010–2011 Schedule
Legend:           = Win           = Loss           = OT/SO Loss

Standings

Atlantic Division[6]
GP W L OTL ROW GF GA Pts
1 y-Philadelphia Flyers 82 47 23 12 44 259 223 106
2 Pittsburgh Penguins 82 49 25 8 39 238 199 106
3 New York Rangers 82 44 33 5 35 233 198 93
4 New Jersey Devils 82 38 39 5 35 174 209 81
5 New York Islanders 82 30 39 13 26 229 264 73
Eastern Conference
R Div GP W L OTL ROW GF GA Pts
1 z – Washington Capitals SE 82 48 23 11 43 224 197 107
2 y – Philadelphia Flyers AT 82 47 23 12 44 259 223 106
3 y – Boston Bruins NE 82 46 25 11 44 246 195 103
4 Pittsburgh Penguins AT 82 49 25 8 39 238 199 106
5 Tampa Bay Lightning SE 82 46 25 11 40 247 240 103
6 Montreal Canadiens NE 82 44 30 8 41 216 209 96
7 Buffalo Sabres NE 82 43 29 10 38 245 229 96
8 New York Rangers AT 82 44 33 5 35 233 198 93
8.5
9 Carolina Hurricanes SE 82 40 31 11 35 236 239 91
10 Toronto Maple Leafs NE 82 37 34 11 32 218 251 85
11 New Jersey Devils AT 82 38 39 5 35 174 209 81
12 Atlanta Thrashers SE 82 34 36 12 29 223 269 80
13 Ottawa Senators NE 82 32 40 10 30 192 250 74
14 New York Islanders AT 82 30 39 13 26 229 264 73
15 Florida Panthers SE 82 30 40 12 26 195 229 72

bold - qualified for playoffs; y – Won division; z – Placed first in conference (and division)
AT - Atlantic Division, NE - Northeast Division, SE - Southeast Division


Detailed records

Final[7]

Eastern Conference
Atlantic GP W L OT SHOTS GF GA PP PK FO W–L
Philadelphia Flyers 6 2 4 0 172–162 15 16 6–29 5–27 183–163
Pittsburgh Penguins
New York Rangers 6 2 3 1 189–160 15 21 2–22 7–22 170–171
New Jersey Devils 6 4 1 1 167–154 11 8 2–20 2–17 139–152
New York Islanders 6 4 1 1 197–173 15 16 6–32 4–28 183–187
Division Total 24 12 9 3 725–649 56 61 16–103 18–94 675–673
Northeast GP W L OT SHOTS GF GA PP PK FO W–L
Boston Bruins 4 2 2 0 146–142 12 15 2–11 3–13 108–122
Montreal Canadiens 4 1 2 1 132–92 8 10 4–17 0–13 113–105
Buffalo Sabres 4 4 0 0 123–125 12 5 0–20 1–12 130–112
Toronto Maple Leafs 4 2 1 1 120–90 16 14 2–11 4–20 122–114
Ottawa Senators 4 3 1 0 155–124 13 7 4–17 4–15 107–120
Division Total 20 12 6 2 676–573 61 51 12–76 12–73 580–573
Southeast GP W L OT SHOTS GF GA PP PK FO W–L
Washington Capitals 4 1 3 0 121–114 4 9 0–14 3–15 123–132
Tampa Bay Lightning 4 2 2 0 129–103 17 9 2–18 2–21 128–127
Carolina Hurricanes 4 3 1 0 132–114 12 10 2–11 1–18 125–108
Atlanta Thrashers 4 4 0 0 112–128 18 9 3–13 4–20 107–118
Florida Panthers 4 4 0 0 122–134 14 7 2–11 0–12 97–125
Division Total 20 14 6 0 616–593 65 44 9–67 10–86 580–610
Conference Total 64 38 21 5 2017–1815 182 156 37–246 40–253 1835–1856
Western Conference
Central GP W L OT SHOTS GF GA PP PK FO W–L
Detroit Red Wings 2 2 0 0 54–78 9 5 0–4 2–8 47–75
Nashville Predators 1 1 0 0 38–24 4 3 0–5 1–4 30–28
Chicago Blackhawks 1 0 0 1 26–31 2 3 0–4 0–3 26–44
St. Louis Blues 1 0 0 1 31–24 0 1 0–4 0–3 21–25
Columbus Blue Jackets 2 1 1 0 68–48 8 6 4–6 1–7 62–48
Division Total 7 4 1 2 217–205 23 18 4–23 4–25 186–220
Northwest GP W L OT SHOTS GF GA PP PK FO W–L
Vancouver Canucks 1 1 0 0 29–30 3 1 0–2 0–5 26–39
Calgary Flames 1 1 0 0 43–31 4 1 1–3 0–4 30–36
Minnesota Wild 1 0 1 0 26–37 0 4 0–4 0–5 20–38
Colorado Avalanche 1 1 0 0 36–31 3 2 1–5 0–2 25–29
Edmonton Oilers 1 1 0 0 33–29 5 1 1–6 0–4 36–21
Division Total 5 4 1 0 167–158 15 9 3–20 0–20 137–163
Pacific GP W L OT SHOTS GF GA PP PK FO W–L
San Jose Sharks 1 0 0 1 26–38 2 3 0–2 1–4 33–30
Anaheim Ducks 1 0 1 0 32–19 2 3 1–4 0–2 22–18
Phoenix Coyotes 2 2 0 0 74–55 10 4 4–10 0–12 56–67
Los Angeles Kings 1 1 0 0 26–33 2 1 0–2 0–3 30–21
Dallas Stars 1 0 1 0 23–29 2 5 0–4 0–5 30–28
Division Total 6 3 2 1 181–174 18 16 5–22 1–26 171–164
Conference Total 18 11 4 3 565–537 56 43 12–65 5–71 494–547
NHL Total 82 49 25 8 2582–2352 238 199 49–311 45–324 2329–2403

Playoffs

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The Pittsburgh Penguins qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. Their opponent in the first round were the Tampa Bay Lightning.

In Game 4 of the series on April 20, the Penguins defeated the Lightning on the road, 3–2 in double overtime. James Neal once again scored the winning goal. It marked the second time James Neal that Neal had scored the game-winning goal for the Penguins; the first time had been the shootout-winning goal on March 25 in a 1–0 victory over the New Jersey Devils.

On April 27, the Penguins were officially eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 1–0 loss to the Lightning in Game 7; it marked the second time in two years that the Penguins had lost a Game 7 on home ice and it was the first time that they had been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs since 2007. Furthermore, the Penguins were the third team to be knocked out of the playoffs in the debut of their new facility.[8][9]

Game log

2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Legend:           = Win           = Loss           = OT/SO Loss
  • Scorer of game-winning goal in italics.

Player statistics

Skaters
Goaltenders
Regular Season[21]
Player GP TOI W L OT GA GAA SA SV% SO G A PIM
Marc-Andre Fleury 65 3695 36 20 5 143 2.32 1742 .918 3 0 1 10
Brent Johnson 23 1297 13 5 3 47 2.17 604 .922 1 0 1 24
Totals 4992 49 25 8 190 2.28 2346 .919 4 0 2 34
Playoffs[22]
Player GP TOI W L GA GAA SA SV% SO G A PIM
Marc-Andre Fleury 7 405 3 4 17 2.52 168 .899 1 0 0 0
Brent Johnson 1 34 0 0 4 7.06 11 .636 0 0 0 2
Totals 439 3 4 21 2.87 179 .883 1 0 0 2

Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Team. Stats reflect time with the Team only.
Traded mid-season
Bold/italics denotes franchise record

Roster

Final.[23]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
27 Canada Craig Adams RW/C R 34 2009 Seria, Brunei
45 Canada Arron Asham RW R 33 2010 Portage la Prairie, Manitoba
19 Canada Mike Comrie C L 30 2010 Edmonton, Alberta
16 United States Chris Conner W L 27 2009 Westland, Michigan
24 Canada Matt Cooke LW L 32 2008 Belleville, Ontario
87 Canada Sidney Crosby (C) C L 23 2005 Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia
9 Canada Pascal Dupuis W L 32 2008 Laval, Quebec
5 Canada Deryk Engelland D R 29 2007 Edmonton, Alberta
29 Canada Marc-Andre Fleury G L 26 2003 Sorel-Tracy, Quebec
28 Canada Eric Godard RW R 31 2008 Vernon, British Columbia
15 Canada Dustin Jeffrey C/LW L 36 2007 Sarnia, Ontario
1 United States Brent Johnson G L 34 2009 Farmington, Michigan
38 Canada Nick Johnson RW R 25 2004 Calgary, Alberta
48 Canada Tyler Kennedy RW R 24 2004 Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
72 Russia Alexei Kovalev RW L 38 2011 Togliatti, Soviet Union
14 Canada Chris Kunitz LW L 31 2009 Regina, Saskatchewan
58 Canada Kris Letang D R 24 2005 Montreal, Quebec
10 Canada Mark Letestu C R 26 2007 Elk Point, Alberta
6 United States Ben Lovejoy D R 27 2008 Canaan, New Hampshire
71 Russia Evgeni Malkin (A) C L 24 2004 Magnitogorsk, Soviet Union
7 United States Paul Martin D L 30 2010 Elk River, Minnesota
4 Czech Republic Zbynek Michalek D R 28 2010 Jindřichův Hradec, Czechoslovakia
18 Canada James Neal LW L 23 2011 Whitby, Ontario
2 United States Matt Niskanen D R 24 2011 Virginia, Minnesota
44 United States Brooks Orpik (A) D L 43 2000 San Francisco, California
17 United States Michael Rupp LW/C L 31 2009 Cleveland, Ohio
11 Canada Jordan Staal (A) C L 22 2006 Thunder Bay, Ontario
25 Canada Maxime Talbot F L 27 2002 LeMoyne, Quebec
26 United States Eric Tangradi W L 22 2009 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Transactions

The Penguins have been involved in the following transactions during the 2010–11 season.