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1988–89 Pittsburgh Penguins
1988–89 Pittsburgh Penguins
Division	2nd Patrick
Conference	4th Wales
1988–89 record	40–33–7
Home record	24–13–3
Road record	16–20–4
Goals for	347
Goals against	349
Team information
General manager	Tony Esposito
Coach	Gene Ubriaco
Captain	Mario Lemieux
Alternate captains	Paul Coffey ; Randy Cunneyworth
Arena	Pittsburgh Civic Arena
Team leaders
Goals	Mario Lemieux (85)
Assists	Mario Lemieux (114)
Points	Mario Lemieux (199)
Penalty minutes	Jay Caufield (285)
Wins	Tom Barrasso (18)
Goals against average	Tom Barrasso and; Frank Pietrangelo (4.04)
	← 1987–88 1989–90 →

The 1988–89 Pittsburgh Penguins season saw the Penguins finish in second place in the Patrick Division with a record of 40 wins, 33 losses, and 7 ties for 87 points. They swept the New York Rangers in the Division Semi-finals before losing the Division Finals in seven games to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Offseason

Regular season

This was Mario Lemieux's best season offensively. He led the league in goals (85), assists (114, tied with Wayne Gretzky), points (199), power-play goals (31) and shorthanded goals (13).

The Penguins finished the regular season with the most power-play opportunities against, with 482, the most power-play opportunities, with 491, and the most power-play goals scored, with 119.^[1]

Highlights

December 31, 1988 – Mario Lemieux scores five goals in an 8–6 win over the New Jersey Devils. Lemieux scores the five goals in five different ways: even strength, shorthanded, power play, penalty shot, and empty net.

Season standings

Patrick Division
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Washington Capitals	80	41	29	10	305	259	92
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	40	33	7	347	349	87
New York Rangers	80	37	35	8	310	307	82
Philadelphia Flyers	80	36	36	8	307	285	80
New Jersey Devils	80	27	41	12	281	325	66
New York Islanders	80	28	47	5	265	325	61

^[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.

Record vs. opponents

Vs. Wales Conference

Vs. Patrick Division

1988–89 NHL records^[3]
Team	NJD	NYI	NYR	PHI	PIT	WSH	Total
New Jersey	—	1–4–2	4–3	2–5	1–4–2	4–3	12–19–4
N.Y. Islanders	4–1–2	—	2–5	1–5–1	2–4–1	3–4	12–19–4
N.Y. Rangers	3–4	5–2	—	3–3–1	3–3–1	3–2–2	17–14–4
Philadelphia	5–2	5–1–1	3–3–1	—	3–4	3–4	19–14–2
Pittsburgh	4–1–2	4–2–1	3–3–1	4–3	—	4–3	19–12–4
Washington	3–4	4–3	2–3–2	4–3	3–4	—	16–17–2

Vs. Adams Division

1988–89 NHL records
Team	BOS	BUF	HFD	MTL	QUE	Total
New Jersey	0–2–1	1–2	1–2	0–3	1–2	3–11–1
N.Y. Islanders	1–2	0–3	1–2	2–1	2–1	6–9–0
N.Y. Rangers	0–1–2	0–3	1–2	0–3	2–1	3–10–2
Philadelphia	1–2	2–1	1–1–1	0–1–2	2–1	6–6–3
Pittsburgh	1–1–1	1–2	1–2	1–2	1–2	5–9–1
Washington	1–1–1	3–0	3–0	1–1–1	2–0–1	10–2–3

Vs. Campbell Conference

Vs. Norris Division

1988–89 NHL records
Team	CHI	DET	MIN	STL	TOR	Total
New Jersey	2–1	2–0–1	1–1–1	2–1	2–1	9–4–2
N.Y. Islanders	0–3	0–3	2–1	1–2	1–2	4–11–0
N.Y. Rangers	2–0–1	0–3	2–1	3–0	1–1–1	8–5–2
Philadelphia	3–0	1–2	2–1	0–3	2–1	8–7–0
Pittsburgh	3–0	2–0–1	1–2	1–1–1	2–1	9–4–2
Washington	2–1	1–1–1	1–1–1	2–0–1	2–1	8–4–3

Vs. Smythe Division

1988–89 NHL records
Team	CGY	EDM	LAK	VAN	WIN	Total
New Jersey	0–3	2–1	0–1–2	1–1–1	0–1–2	3–7–5
N.Y. Islanders	0–2–1	1–2	1–2	2–1	2–1	6–8–1
N.Y. Rangers	1–2	1–2	2–1	3–0	2–1	9–6–0
Philadelphia	0–3	0–1–2	1–2	0–3	2–0–1	3–9–3
Pittsburgh	1–2	1–2	1–2	2–1	2–1	7–8–0
Washington	0–2–1	2–1	1–1–1	2–1	2–1	7–6–2

Schedule and results

On January 4, 1989, the Penguins defeated the Red Army team 4–2 at the Civic Arena in an exhibition. [1]

1988–89 Schedule

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

#	Oct	Visitor	Score	Home	Location	Record	Points
1	Oct 7	Pittsburgh Penguins	6–4	Washington Capitals	Capital Centre	1–0–0	2
2	Oct 11	Washington Capitals	7–8	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	2–0–0	4
3	Oct 12	Pittsburgh Penguins	5–8	Buffalo Sabres	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium	2–1–0	4
4	Oct 15	St. Louis Blues	2–9	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	3–1–0	6
5	Oct 18	Philadelphia Flyers	2–4	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	4–1–0	8
6	Oct 21	Pittsburgh Penguins	4–6	New Jersey Devils	Brendan Byrne Arena	4–2–0	8
7	Oct 22	Chicago Blackhawks	4–7	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	5–2–0	10
8	Oct 25	Calgary Flames	1–6	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	6–2–0	12
9	Oct 27	Pittsburgh Penguins	3–4	St. Louis Blues	St. Louis Arena	6–3–0	12
10	Oct 29	Pittsburgh Penguins	5–4	Montreal Canadiens	Montreal Forum	7–3–0	14
11	Oct 30	Pittsburgh Penguins	2–9	New York Rangers	Madison Square Garden (IV)	7–4–0	14

November: 7–6–0 (Home: 5–2–0; Road: 2–4–0), 14 Points

#	Nov	Visitor	Score	Home	Location	Record	Points
12	Nov 1	Vancouver Canucks	3–5	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	8–4–0	16
13	Nov 3	Quebec Nordiques	6–2	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	8–5–0	16
14	Nov 6	Pittsburgh Penguins	4–5	Philadelphia Flyers	The Spectrum	8–6–0	16
15	Nov 8	Edmonton Oilers	7–3	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	8–7–0	16
16	Nov 10	Toronto Maple Leafs	1–5	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	9–7–0	18
17	Nov 12	Pittsburgh Penguins	2–7	Los Angeles Kings	The Forum	9–8–0	18
18	Nov 13	Pittsburgh Penguins	4–2	Vancouver Canucks	Pacific Coliseum	10–8–0	20
19	Nov 16	Pittsburgh Penguins	5–8	Toronto Maple Leafs	Maple Leaf Gardens	10–9–0	20
20	Nov 19	Pittsburgh Penguins	3–6	New York Islanders	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	10–10–0	20
21	Nov 23	New York Rangers	2–8	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	11–10–0	22
22	Nov 25	Pittsburgh Penguins	5–3	Washington Capitals	Capital Centre	12–10–0	24
23	Nov 26	Philadelphia Flyers	3–4	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	13–10–0	26
24	Nov 30	Washington Capitals	4–6	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	14–10–0	28

December: 9–2–3 (Home: 6–1–1; Road: 3–1–2), 21 Points

#	Dec	Visitor	Score	Home	Location	Record	Points
25	Dec 3	New York Islanders	2–4	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	15–10–0	30
26	Dec 4	Pittsburgh Penguins	3–3 OT	Boston Bruins	Boston Garden	15–10–1	31
27	Dec 6	Chicago Blackhawks	6–7	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	16–10–1	33
28	Dec 8	Pittsburgh Penguins	3–4	Philadelphia Flyers	The Spectrum	16–11–1	33
29	Dec 10	New Jersey Devils	4–4 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	16–11–2	34
30	Dec 14	Los Angeles Kings	4–5	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	17–11–2	36
31	Dec 15	Pittsburgh Penguins	8–2	New York Islanders	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	18–11–2	38
32	Dec 17	Detroit Red Wings	2–3	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	19–11–2	40
33	Dec 20	New York Islanders	3–5	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	20–11–2	42
34	Dec 21	Pittsburgh Penguins	6–1	Toronto Maple Leafs	Maple Leaf Gardens	21–11–2	44
35	Dec 23	Pittsburgh Penguins	2–2 OT	New Jersey Devils	Brendan Byrne Arena	21–11–3	45
36	Dec 26	Pittsburgh Penguins	4–3 OT	Hartford Whalers	Hartford Civic Center	22–11–3	47
37	Dec 29	Philadelphia Flyers	3–2	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	22–12–3	47
38	Dec 31	New Jersey Devils	6–8	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	23–12–3	49

January: 5–6–1 (Home: 3–2–1; Road: 2–4–0), 11 Points

#	Jan	Visitor	Score	Home	Location	Record	Points
39	Jan 2	Pittsburgh Penguins	0–8	Washington Capitals	Capital Centre	23–13–3	49
40	Jan 7	Vancouver Canucks	7–5	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	23–14–3	49
41	Jan 10	New York Islanders	3–5	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	24–14–3	51
42	Jan 12	Pittsburgh Penguins	9–2	Minnesota North Stars	Met Center	25–14–3	53
43	Jan 14	New York Rangers	4–4 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	25–14–4	54
44	Jan 15	Pittsburgh Penguins	4–6	New York Rangers	Madison Square Garden (IV)	25–15–4	54
45	Jan 17	Pittsburgh Penguins	2–5	New York Islanders	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	25–16–4	54
46	Jan 20	Pittsburgh Penguins	3–7	Winnipeg Jets	Winnipeg Arena	25–17–4	54
47	Jan 21	Pittsburgh Penguins	7–4	Edmonton Oilers	Northlands Coliseum	26–17–4	56
48	Jan 25	Winnipeg Jets	4–5	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	27–17–4	58
49	Jan 28	Detroit Red Wings	5–10	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	28–17–4	60
50	Jan 31	Montreal Canadiens	5–1	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	28–18–4	60

February: 4–7–3 (Home: 2–2–1; Road: 2–3–2), 11 Points

#	Feb	Visitor	Score	Home	Location	Record	Points
51	Feb 2	Pittsburgh Penguins	5–3	Philadelphia Flyers	The Spectrum	29–18–4	62
52	Feb 3	St. Louis Blues	3–3 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	29–18–5	63
53	Feb 5	Pittsburgh Penguins	5–2	Boston Bruins	Boston Garden	30–18–5	65
54	Feb 9	Quebec Nordiques	2–5	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	31–18–5	67
55	Feb 11	Pittsburgh Penguins	1–8	Quebec Nordiques	Colisée de Québec	31–19–5	67
56	Feb 12	Calgary Flames	4–2	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	31–20–5	67
57	Feb 14	Buffalo Sabres	3–7	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	32–20–5	69
58	Feb 17	Pittsburgh Penguins	1–5	Buffalo Sabres	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium	32–21–5	69
59	Feb 18	New York Rangers	5–3	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	32–22–5	69
60	Feb 21	Minnesota North Stars	2–1	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	32–23–5	69
61	Feb 23	Pittsburgh Penguins	6–6 OT	Detroit Red Wings	Joe Louis Arena	32–23–6	70
62	Feb 25	Pittsburgh Penguins	5–5 OT	New York Islanders	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	32–23–7	71
63	Feb 26	Pittsburgh Penguins	6–8	Hartford Whalers	Hartford Civic Center	32–24–7	71

March: 6–9–0 (Home: 2–5–0; Road: 4–4–0), 12 Points

#	Mar	Visitor	Score	Home	Location	Record	Points
64	Mar 1	New Jersey Devils	1–4	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	33–24–7	73
65	Mar 3	Pittsburgh Penguins	2–4	Washington Capitals	Capital Centre	33–25–7	73
66	Mar 5	Edmonton Oilers	4–2	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	33–26–7	73
67	Mar 7	Pittsburgh Penguins	2–3 OT	Los Angeles Kings	Great Western Forum	33–27–7	73
68	Mar 9	Pittsburgh Penguins	3–10	Calgary Flames	Olympic Saddledome	33–28–7	73
69	Mar 10	Pittsburgh Penguins	5–1	Winnipeg Jets	Winnipeg Arena	34–28–7	75
70	Mar 12	Pittsburgh Penguins	6–5	Chicago Blackhawks	Chicago Stadium	35–28–7	77
71	Mar 14	Boston Bruins	8–2	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	35–29–7	77
72	Mar 16	Pittsburgh Penguins	2–1	New Jersey Devils	Brendan Byrne Arena	36–29–7	79
73	Mar 18	Montreal Canadiens	7–2	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	36–30–7	79
74	Mar 20	Pittsburgh Penguins	2–7	Minnesota North Stars	Met Center	36–31–7	79
75	Mar 22	Washington Capitals	5–4	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	36–32–7	79
76	Mar 25	New Jersey Devils	4–5	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	37–32–7	81
77	Mar 26	Pittsburgh Penguins	6–4	New York Rangers	Madison Square Garden (IV)	38–32–7	83
78	Mar 30	Hartford Whalers	9–5	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	38–33–7	83

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

#	Apr	Time (ET)	Visitor	Score	Home	Location	Record	Points
79	Apr 1		New York Rangers	2–5	Pittsburgh Penguins	Civic Arena	39–33–7	85
80	Apr 2		Pittsburgh Penguins	6–5 OT	Philadelphia Flyers	The Spectrum	40–33–7	87

Legend: = Win = Loss = Tie

Playoffs

After six frustrating and disappointing seasons, the Penguins finally managed to get into the playoffs for the first time since the 1981–82 season. They swept New York Rangers in the Semifinals, but lost to their rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers in seven games.

Playoff log

1989 Stanley Cup playoffs

Patrick Division semi-finals vs No. 3 New York Rangers: 4–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 2–0)

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	PIT goals	NYR goals	Decision	Attendance	Series
1	April 5	N.Y. Rangers	1–3	Pittsburgh	Coffey (2), Quinn	Sandstrom	Barrasso (1–0)	16,025	1–0
2	April 6	N.Y. Rangers	4–7	Pittsburgh	Stevens, Brown, Callander, Bourque, Cunneyworth, Zalapski, Lemieux (en)	Lafleur, Leetch, Ogrodnick, Wilson	Barrasso (2–0)	16,025	2–0
3	April 8	Pittsburgh	5–3	N.Y. Rangers	Lemeiux, Cullen, Stevens, Quinn (2)	Granato, Ogrodnick, Sandstrom	Barrasso (3–0)	17,498	3–0
4	April 9	Pittsburgh	4–3	N.Y. Rangers	Lemieux, Bourque, Brown	Sandstrom, Leetch (2)	Barrasso (4–0)	17,403	4–0

Patrick Division finals vs No. 4 Philadelphia Flyers: 3–4 (Home: 2–2; Road: 1–2)

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	PIT goals	PHI goals	Decision	Attendance	Series
1	April 17	Philadelphia	3–4	Pittsburgh		Lemieux, Quinn, Cullen, Brown	Poulin, Kerr, Propp	Barrasso (5–0)	16,025	1–0
2	April 19	Philadelphia	4–2	Pittsburgh		Quinn, Lemieux	Kerr (3), Propp	Barrasso (5–1)	16,025	1–1
3	April 21	Pittsburgh	4–3	Philadelphia	12:08	Lemieux, Quinn, Callander, Bourque	Poulin, Acton, Propp	Barrasso (6–1)	17,423	2–1
4	April 23	Pittsburgh	1–4	Philadelphia		Cullen	Poulin, Kerr (2), Carkner	Barrasso (6–2)	17,423	2–2
5	April 25	Philadelphia	7–10	Pittsburgh		Lemieux (3), Errey, Lemieux, Loney, Stevens, Brown (2), Lemieux (en)	Bullard, Eklund, Propp, Smith, Kerr, Eklund, Kerr	Barrasso (7–2)	16,025	3–2
6	April 27	Pittsburgh	2–6	Philadelphia		Cunneyworth (2)	Kerr (2), Smith, Sutter, Smith, Propp	Barrasso (7–3)	17,423	3–3
7	April 29	Philadelphia	4–1	Pittsburgh		Lemieux	Propp, Poulin, Bullard, Mellanby (en)	Barrasso (7–4)	16,025	3–4

Legend: = Win = Loss = Playoff series win

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular Season^[4]
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Mario Lemieux	76	85	114	199	41	100
Rob Brown	68	49	66	115	27	118
Paul Coffey	75	30	83	113	–10	195
Dan Quinn	79	34	60	94	–37	102
Bob Errey	76	26	32	58	40	124
John Cullen	79	12	37	49	–25	112
Zarley Zalapski	58	12	33	45	9	57
Randy Cunneyworth	70	25	19	44	–22	156
Phil Bourque	80	17	26	43	–22	97
Dave Hannan	72	10	20	30	–12	157
Randy Hillier	68	1	23	24	–4	141
Troy Loney	69	10	6	16	–5	165
Jim Johnson	76	2	14	16	7	163
Kevin Stevens	24	12	3	15	–8	19
Jock Callander	30	6	5	11	–3	20
Steve Dykstra	65	1	6	7	–12	126
Dan Frawley	46	3	4	7	–1	66
Rod Buskas	52	1	5	6	–2	105
Chris Dahlquist	43	1	5	6	–8	42
Jay Caufield	58	1	4	5	–4	285
Doug Bodger^‡	10	1	4	5	6	7
Scott Bjugstad	24	3	0	3	–12	4
Gord Dineen^†	38	1	2	3	–5	44
Dave McLlwain	24	1	2	3	–11	4
Mark Recchi	15	1	1	2	–2	0
Mark Kachowski	12	1	1	2	1	43
Ville Sirén^‡	12	1	0	1	0	14
Perry Ganchar	3	0	0	0	–3	0
Richard Zemlak^†	31	0	0	0	–4	135
Total		347	575	922	—	2,601

Playoffs^[5]
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Mario Lemieux	11	12	7	19	–1	16
Paul Coffey	11	2	13	15	–7	31
Kevin Stevens	11	3	7	10	–1	16
Dan Quinn	11	6	3	9	–6	10
Zarley Zalapski	11	1	8	9	–2	13
John Cullen	11	3	6	9	4	28
Rob Brown	11	5	3	8	–2	22
Randy Cunneyworth	11	3	5	8	–1	26
Jock Callander	10	2	5	7	6	10
Phil Bourque	11	4	1	5	2	66
Jim Johnson	11	0	5	5	7	44
Troy Loney	11	1	3	4	3	24
Bob Errey	11	1	2	3	1	12
Gord Dineen	11	0	2	2	8	8
Dave Hannan	8	0	1	1	0	4
Dave McLlwain	3	0	1	1	0	0
Randy Hillier	9	0	1	1	–1	49
Jay Caufield	9	0	0	0	–2	28
Rod Buskas	10	0	0	0	–1	23
Richard Zemlak	1	0	0	0	0	10
Steve Dykstra	1	0	0	0	0	2
Chris Dahlquist	2	0	0	0	0	0
Total		43	73	116	—	442

Goaltenders

Regular Season^[6]
Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	A	PIM
Tom Barrasso^†	44	2406:21	18	15	7	162	4.04	1441	0.888	5	49
Wendell Young	22	1150:18	12	9	0	92	4.80	673	0.863	2	4
Steve Guenette	11	573:53	5	6	0	41	4.29	308	0.867	1	0
Frank Pietrangelo	15	669:20	5	3	0	45	4.03	408	0.890	0	2
Rick Tabaracci	1	33:05	0	0	0	4	7.25	21	0.810	0	2
Total		4832:57	40	33	7	344	4.27	2851	0.879	8	57

Playoffs^[7]
Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	A	PIM
Tom Barrasso	11	631:10	7	4	40	3.80	388	0.897	1	8
Wendell Young	1	38:38	0	0	1	1.55	11	0.909	0	0
Total		669:48	7	4	41	3.68	399	0.897	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

Paul Coffey, Defence, NHL First All-Star Team
Mario Lemieux, Center, NHL First All-Star Team
Mario Lemieux, Art Ross Trophy
Mario Lemieux, Center, NHL First All-Star Team
Mario Lemieux became the first person to score 100 assists in a season for the Penguins. He did so in a 6–8 loss to Hartford on February 26.
Mario Lemieux became the first person to score 170 points in a season for the Penguins. He did so in a 2–3 loss to Los Angeles on March 7.
Mario Lemieux became the first person to score 180 points in a season for the Penguins. He did so in a 2–8 loss to Boston on March 14.
Mario Lemieux became the first person to score 110 assists in a season for the Penguins. He did so in a 2–7 loss to Minnesota on March 20.
Mario Lemieux became the first person to score 190 points in a season for the Penguins. He did so in a 6–4 win over New York on March 27.
Mario Lemieux became the first person to score 80 goals in a season for the Penguins. He did so in a 5–9 loss to Hartford on March 30.
Mario Lemieux became the first person to score 400 assists for the Penguins. He did so in a 6–8 loss to Hartford on February 26.
Mario Lemieux became the first person to score 700 points for the Penguins. He did so in a 4–5 loss to Washington on March 22.
Mario Lemieux established a new franchise record for goals (85), assists (114) and points (199) in a season. He had set all three records the previous season.
Mario Lemieux established a new franchise record for assists (415) and points (715). He broke the previous records of 349 assists (Syl Apps Jr.) and 636 points (Rick Kehoe)
Paul Coffey established a new franchise record for goals (30), assists (83) and points (113) in a season by a defenseman. He broke the records of 16 goals, 67 assists and 83 points all set by Randy Carlyle in 1981.
Rod Buskas established a new franchise record for penalty minutes (946). He broke the previous records of 871 PIM held by Bryan Watson.
Mario Lemieux established a new franchise record for highest plus-minus in a season (+41). He broke the previous high of +36 set by Lowell MacDonald in 1973.
Mario Lemieux, NHL Record, Most Shorthanded Goals, One Season (13) ^[8]

Transactions

Trades

September 1, 1988	To Philadelphia Flyers 1990 3rd round pick	To Pittsburgh Penguins Wendell Young 1990 7th round pick
October 3, 1988	To Buffalo Sabres Wayne Van Dorp	To Pittsburgh Penguins 1990 7th round pick
November 1, 1988	To Minnesota North Stars rights to Rob Gaudreau	To Pittsburgh Penguins Richard Zemlak
November 12, 1988	To Buffalo Sabres Doug Bodger Darrin Shannon	To Pittsburgh Penguins Tom Barrasso 1990 3rd round pick
December 17, 1988	To Minnesota North Stars Steve Gotaas Ville Siren	To Pittsburgh Penguins Scott Bjugstad Gord Dineen
January 9, 1989	To Calgary Flames Steve Guenette	To Pittsburgh Penguins 1989 6th round pick
March 6, 1989	To Los Angeles Kings Pat Mayer	To Pittsburgh Penguins Tim Tookey

Free agents lost

Date	Player	New team
October 4, 1988	Carl Mokosak	Boston Bruins

Waiver draft

Date	Player	Former team
October 3, 1988	Jay Caufield	Minnesota North Stars
October 3, 1988	Steve Dykstra Dave Hannan	Edmonton Oilers

Player signings

Player	Date	Contract terms
John Cullen	June 21, 1988	Unknown
Mark Recchi	August 17, 1988	Multi-year contract
Steve Guenette	August 29, 1988	Multi-year contract
Darrin Shannon	September 7, 1988	Multi-year contract
Bruce Racine	September 21, 1988	Multi-year contract
Mario Lemieux	November 1, 1988	1 year/$1.6 million
Dan Quinn	November 5, 1988	Multi-year contract
Jamie Leach	March 22, 1989	Multi-year contract
Dave Michayluk	May 24, 1989	Unknown

Other

Player	Date	Details
Pierre Creamer	June 14, 1988	Replaced as head coach
Gene Ubriaco	June 28, 1988	Hired as head coach
Dave Hunter	October 3, 1988	Sent to Oilers as compensation for claiming Dave Hannan in waiver draft

Draft picks

Pittsburgh Penguins' picks at the 1988 NHL entry draft.^[9]

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	4	Darrin Shannon	L	Canada	Windsor Compuware Spitfires (OHL)
2	25	Mark Major	L	Canada	North Bay Centennials (OHL)
3	62^[a]	Daniel Gauthier	L	Canada	Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL)
4	67	Mark Recchi	R	Canada	Kamloops Blazers (WHL)
5	88	Greg Andrusak	D	Canada	U. of Minnesota-Duluth (NCAA)
7	130	Troy Mick	L	Canada	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
8	151	Jeffrey Blaeser	L	United States	St. John's Prep (Mass H.S.)
9	172	Robert Gaudreau	C	United States	Bishop Hendricken H.S. (RI)
10	193	Donald Pancoe	L	Canada	Hamilton Steelhawks (OHL)
11	214	Cory Laylin	L	United States	St. Cloud Apollo H.S. (Minn.)
12	235	Darren Stolk	D	Canada	Lethbridge Broncos (WHL)
S	4	Paul Polillo	C	Canada	Western Michigan University (CCHA)
S	9	Shawn Lillie	C	Canada	Colgate University (ECAC)

Draft notes^[10]

The Pittsburgh Penguins' third-round pick went to the Montreal Canadiens as the result of a December 17, 1987, trade that sent Perry Ganchar and future considerations (1988 third-round pick (#62-Daniel Gauthier)) to the Penguins in exchange for a future considerations (this pick).
^a The Montreal Canadiens' third-round pick went to the Pittsburgh Penguins as a result of a December 17, 1987, trade that sent future considerations (1988 third-round pick (#46-Neil Carnes)) to the Canadiens in exchange for Perry Ganchar and future considerations (this pick).
The Pittsburgh Penguins' sixth-round pick went to the Los Angeles Kings as the result of a February 4, 1988, trade that sent Bryan Erickson to the Penguins in exchange for Chris Kontos and future considerations (this pick).

References

Penguins on Hockey Database

^ "1988-89 NHL Summary".
^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.
^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
^ "1988–1989 – Regular Season – Pittsburgh Penguins – All Skaters – Summary – Points – NHL.com – Stats". NHL.
^ "1988–1989 – Playoffs – Pittsburgh Penguins – All Skaters – Summary – Points – NHL.com – Stats". NHL.
^ "1988–1989 – Regular Season – Pittsburgh Penguins – Goalie – Summary – Wins – NHL.com – Stats". NHL.
^ "1988–1989 – Playoffs – Pittsburgh Penguins – Goalie – Summary – Wins – NHL.com – Stats". NHL.
^ National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p.181, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 0-920445-98-5
^ "NHL entry draft Year by Year Results". NHL.com.
^ "1988 NHL Entry Draft Pending Transactions". Pro Sports Transactions.

[1] "1988-89 NHL Summary".

[nhl-gd-standings-2] Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.

[3] "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.

[4] "1988–1989 – Regular Season – Pittsburgh Penguins – All Skaters – Summary – Points – NHL.com – Stats". NHL.

[5] "1988–1989 – Playoffs – Pittsburgh Penguins – All Skaters – Summary – Points – NHL.com – Stats". NHL.

[6] "1988–1989 – Regular Season – Pittsburgh Penguins – Goalie – Summary – Wins – NHL.com – Stats". NHL.

[7] "1988–1989 – Playoffs – Pittsburgh Penguins – Goalie – Summary – Wins – NHL.com – Stats". NHL.

[8] National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p.181, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 0-920445-98-5

[9] "NHL entry draft Year by Year Results". NHL.com.

[10] "1988 NHL Entry Draft Pending Transactions". Pro Sports Transactions.

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