2019–20 Pittsburgh Penguins season

The 2019–20 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the fifty-third season for the National Hockey League team that was established on June 5, 1967. This season saw the team try to extend its playoff streak to fourteen seasons.

2019–20 Pittsburgh Penguins
Division	3rd Metropolitan
Conference	5th Eastern
2019–20 record	40–23–6
Home record	23–8–4
Road record	17–15–2
Goals for	224
Goals against	196
Team information
General manager	Jim Rutherford
Coach	Mike Sullivan
Captain	Sidney Crosby
Alternate captains	Kris Letang Evgeni Malkin
Arena	PPG Paints Arena
Average attendance	18,537
Minor league affiliate(s)	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL) Wheeling Nailers (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Bryan Rust (27)
Assists	Evgeni Malkin (49)
Points	Evgeni Malkin (74)
Penalty minutes	Evgeni Malkin (58)
Plus/minus	Brian Dumoulin John Marino (+17)
Wins	Tristan Jarry Matt Murray (20)
Goals against average	Tristan Jarry (2.43)

Background

This season was suspended by the league officials on March 12, 2020, after several other professional and collegiate sports organizations suspended their seasons due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On May 26, the NHL regular season was officially declared over with the remaining games being cancelled.

The Penguins advanced to the playoffs. Prior to the pause however, after taking the lead in the Metropolitan Division on February 18, the Penguins suffered a crucial six-game losing streak which coincided with both the Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers (the latter of whom were on a nine-game winning streak) surpassing the Penguins in the standings. This dropped the Penguins into third in the division and fifth in the conference. The modified playoff format kept the Penguins from being among the top four teams in the conference. When the Penguins returned to play as the fifth seed, the team lost to the twelfth-seeded Montreal Canadiens in the best-of-five qualifying round.

Standings

Divisional standings

Metropolitan Division

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Washington Capitals	69	41	20	8	31	240	215	+25	90
2	Philadelphia Flyers	69	41	21	7	31	232	196	+36	89
3	Pittsburgh Penguins	69	40	23	6	29	224	196	+28	86
4	Carolina Hurricanes	68	38	25	5	27	222	193	+29	81
5	Columbus Blue Jackets	70	33	22	15	25	180	187	−7	81
6	New York Islanders	68	35	23	10	24	192	193	−1	80
7	New York Rangers	70	37	28	5	31	234	222	+12	79
8	New Jersey Devils	69	28	29	12	22	189	230	−41	68

Source: National Hockey League

Eastern Conference

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	PCT	Qualification
1	Boston Bruins	70	44	14	12	38	227	174	+53	.714	Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament
2	Tampa Bay Lightning	70	43	21	6	35	245	195	+50	.657
3	Washington Capitals	69	41	20	8	31	240	215	+25	.652
4	Philadelphia Flyers	69	41	21	7	31	232	196	+36	.645
5	Pittsburgh Penguins	69	40	23	6	29	224	196	+28	.623	Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round
6	Carolina Hurricanes	68	38	25	5	27	222	193	+29	.596
7	New York Islanders	68	35	23	10	24	192	193	−1	.588
8	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	36	25	9	28	238	227	+11	.579
9	Columbus Blue Jackets	70	33	22	15	25	180	187	−7	.579
10	Florida Panthers	69	35	26	8	30	231	228	+3	.565
11	New York Rangers	70	37	28	5	31	234	222	+12	.564
12	Montreal Canadiens	71	31	31	9	19	212	221	−9	.500
13	Buffalo Sabres	69	30	31	8	22	195	217	−22	.493
14	New Jersey Devils	69	28	29	12	22	189	230	−41	.493
15	Ottawa Senators	71	25	34	12	18	191	243	−52	.437
16	Detroit Red Wings	71	17	49	5	13	145	267	−122	.275

Source: National Hockey League

Schedule and results

Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on June 18, 2019.

2019 preseason game log: 2–1–3 (Home: 2–0–1 ; Road: 0–1–2) # Date Visitor Score Home Location Attendance Record 1 September 16 Pittsburgh 4–5 OT Buffalo Pegula Ice Arena 5,497 0–0–1 2 September 19 Columbus 1–4 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 15,649 1–0–1 3 September 21 Pittsburgh 1–3 Columbus Nationwide Arena 13,637 1–1–1 4 September 22 Pittsburgh 2–3 OT Detroit Little Caesars Arena 16,093 1–1–2 5 September 25 Detroit 2–4 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 15,112 2–1–2 6 September 28 Buffalo 3–2 SO Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,325 2–1–3

Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = OT/SO Loss

Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on June 25, 2019.

2019–20 game log
October: 8–5–0 (Home: 5–3–0 ; Road: 3–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home Location Attendance Record Points 1 October 3 Buffalo 3–1 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,616 0–1–0 0 2 October 5 Columbus 2–7 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,595 1–1–0 2 3 October 8 Winnipeg 4–1 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,420 1–2–0 2 4 October 10 Anaheim 1–2 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,414 2–2–0 4 5 October 12 Pittsburgh 7–4 Minnesota Xcel Energy Center 19,157 3–2–0 6 6 October 13 Pittsburgh 7–2 Winnipeg Bell MTS Place 15,325 4–2–0 8 7 October 16 Colorado 2–3 OT Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,458 5–2–0 10 8 October 18 Dallas 2–4 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,482 6–2–0 12 9 October 19 Vegas 3–0 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 19,610 6–3–0 12 10 October 22 Pittsburgh 2–4 Florida BB&T Center 12,738 6–4–0 12 11 October 23 Pittsburgh 2–3 Tampa Bay Amalie Arena 19,092 6–5–0 12 12 October 26 Pittsburgh 3–0 Dallas American Airlines Center 18,532 7–5–0 14 13 October 29 Philadelphia 1–7 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,560 8–5–0 16
November: 6–4–4 (Home: 5–0–2 ; Road: 1–4–2) # Date Visitor Score Home Location Attendance Record Points 14 November 2 Edmonton 2–1 OT Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,618 8–5–1 17 15 November 4 Pittsburgh 4–6 Boston TD Garden 17,193 8–6–1 17 16 November 7 Pittsburgh 4–3 OT NY Islanders Barclays Center 12,613 9–6–1 19 17 November 9 Chicago 2–3 SO Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,653 10–6–1 21 18 November 12 Pittsburgh 2–3 OT NY Rangers Madison Square Garden 16,904 10–6–2 22 19 November 15 Pittsburgh 1–2 New Jersey Prudential Center 16,514 10–7–2 22 20 November 16 Toronto 1–6 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,587 11–7–2 24 21 November 19 NY Islanders 5–4 OT Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,411 11–7–3 25 22 November 21 Pittsburgh 3–4 OT NY Islanders Barclays Center 13,212 11–7–4 26 23 November 22 New Jersey 1–4 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,420 12–7–4 28 24 November 25 Calgary 2–3 OT Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,437 13–7–4 30 25 November 27 Vancouver 6–8 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,465 14–7–4 32 26 November 29 Pittsburgh 2–5 Columbus Nationwide Arena 17,402 14–8–4 32 27 November 30 Pittsburgh 2–5 St. Louis Enterprise Center 18,096 14–9–4 32
December: 10–2–0 (Home: 6–1–0 ; Road: 4–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home Location Attendance Record Points 28 December 4 St. Louis 0–3 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,411 15–9–4 34 29 December 6 Arizona 0–2 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,432 16–9–4 36 30 December 7 Pittsburgh 5–3 Detroit Little Caesars Arena 19,515 17–9–4 38 31 December 10 Montreal 4–1 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,422 17–10–4 38 32 December 12 Columbus 0–1 OT Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,415 18–10–4 40 33 December 14 Los Angeles 4–5 SO Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,581 19–10–4 42 34 December 17 Pittsburgh 4–1 Calgary Scotiabank Saddledome 18,412 20–10–4 44 35 December 20 Pittsburgh 5–2 Edmonton Rogers Place 18,347 21–10–4 46 36 December 21 Pittsburgh 1–4 Vancouver Rogers Arena 18,285 21–11–4 46 37 December 27 Pittsburgh 5–2 Nashville Bridgestone Arena 17,849 22–11–4 48 38 December 28 Nashville 4–6 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,628 23–11–4 50 39 December 30 Ottawa 2–5 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,653 24–11–4 52
January: 8–3–1 (Home: 3–1–1 ; Road: 5–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home Location Attendance Record Points 40 January 2 San Jose 3–2 OT Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,620 24–11–5 53 41 January 4 Pittsburgh 3–2 OT Montreal Bell Centre 21,302 25–11–5 55 42 January 5 Florida 4–1 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,564 25–12–5 55 43 January 7 Pittsburgh 4–3 Vegas T-Mobile Arena 18,298 26–12–5 57 44 January 10 Pittsburgh 4–3 OT Colorado Pepsi Center 18,132 27–12–5 59 45 January 12 Pittsburgh 4–3 SO Arizona Gila River Arena 13,755 28–12–5 61 46 January 14 Minnesota 3–7 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,545 29–12–5 63 47 January 16 Pittsburgh 1–4 Boston TD Garden 17,850 29–13–5 63 48 January 17 Pittsburgh 2–1 OT Detroit Little Caesars Arena 19,515 30–13–5 65 49 January 19 Boston 3–4 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,655 31–13–5 67 50 January 21 Pittsburgh 0–3 Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center 19,120 31–14–5 67 51 January 31 Philadelphia 3–4 OT Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,647 32–14–5 69
February: 5–7–1 (Home: 3–1–1 ; Road: 2–6–0) # Date Visitor Score Home Location Attendance Record Points 52 February 2 Pittsburgh 4–3 Washington Capital One Arena 18,573 33–14–5 71 53 February 6 Pittsburgh 2–4 Tampa Bay Amalie Arena 19,092 33–15–5 71 54 February 8 Pittsburgh 3–2 Florida BB&T Center 17,773 34–15–5 73 55 February 11 Tampa Bay 2–1 OT Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,445 34–15–6 74 56 February 14 Montreal 1–4 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,650 35–15–6 76 57 February 16 Detroit 1–5 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,654 36–15–6 78 58 February 18 Toronto 2–5 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,466 37–15–6 80 59 February 20 Pittsburgh 0–4 Toronto Scotiabank Arena 19,386 37–16–6 80 60 February 22 Buffalo 5–2 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,620 37–17–6 80 61 February 23 Pittsburgh 3–5 Washington Capital One Arena 18,573 37–18–6 80 62 February 26 Pittsburgh 1–2 Los Angeles Staples Center 16,898 37–19–6 80 63 February 28 Pittsburgh 2–3 Anaheim Honda Center 16,588 37–20–6 80 64 February 29 Pittsburgh 0–5 San Jose SAP Center 17,562 37–21–6 80
March: 3–2–0 (Home: 1–2–0 ; Road: 2–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home Location Attendance Record Points 65 March 3 Ottawa 3–7 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,455 38–21–6 82 66 March 5 Pittsburgh 4–2 Buffalo KeyBank Center 18,236 39–21–6 84 67 March 7 Washington 5–2 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,656 39–22–6 84 68 March 8 Carolina 6–2 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,548 39–23–6 84 69 March 10 Pittsburgh 5–2 New Jersey Prudential Center 13,473 40–23–6 86
Cancelled games # Date Visitor Home Location 70 March 12 Pittsburgh Columbus Nationwide Arena 71 March 14 Pittsburgh Carolina PNC Arena 72 March 15 NY Islanders Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 73 March 18 Pittsburgh NY Rangers Madison Square Garden 74 March 20 NY Rangers Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 75 March 22 Washington Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 76 March 24 Carolina Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 77 March 25 Pittsburgh Chicago United Center 78 March 28 Pittsburgh Carolina PNC Arena 79 March 29 Pittsburgh Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center 80 March 31 New Jersey Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 81 April 2 NY Rangers Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 82 April 4 Pittsburgh Ottawa Canadian Tire Centre
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = OT/SO Loss

Playoffs

Main article: 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs

The Penguins were defeated by the Montreal Canadiens in the qualifying round in four games.

2020 Stanley Cup playoffs
Eastern Conference Qualifying Round vs. (12) Montreal Canadiens: Montreal won 3–1 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Series Recap 1 August 1 Montreal 3–2 Pittsburgh OT Murray 0–1 Recap 2 August 3 Montreal 1–3 Pittsburgh Murray 1–1 Recap 3 August 5 Pittsburgh 3–4 Montreal Murray 1–2 Recap 4 August 7 Pittsburgh 0–2 Montreal Jarry 1–3 Recap
Legend:        = Win        = Loss

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular Season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Evgeni Malkin	55	25	49	74	7	58
Bryan Rust	55	27	29	56	14	30
Sidney Crosby	41	16	31	47	-8	15
Kris Letang	61	15	29	44	0	38
Jake Guentzel	39	20	23	43	11	14
Jared McCann	66	14	21	35	6	17
Patric Hornqvist	52	17	15	32	9	36
Dominik Kahun‡	50	10	17	27	6	8
John Marino	56	6	20	26	17	20
Brandon Tanev	68	11	14	25	-1	16
Teddy Blueger	69	9	13	22	2	25
Dominik Simon	64	7	15	22	-9	12
Marcus Pettersson	69	2	20	22	9	35
Alex Galchenyuk‡	45	5	12	17	-7	10
Sam Lafferty	50	6	7	13	5	23
Zach Aston-Reese	57	6	7	13	6	28
Jason Zucker†	15	6	6	12	-1	2
Justin Schultz	46	3	9	12	-13	6
Jack Johnson	67	3	8	11	-1	26
Brian Dumoulin	28	1	7	8	17	10
Juuso Riikola	36	1	6	7	3	6
Chad Ruhwedel	41	2	4	6	4	12
Joseph Blandisi	21	2	3	5	-3	10
Conor Sheary†	8	1	3	4	-1	2
Patrick Marleau†	8	1	1	2	0	2
Nick Bjugstad	13	1	1	2	3	8
Adam Johnson	7	1	1	2	-1	2
Andrew Agozzino‡	17	0	2	2	0	4
Stefan Noesen‡	6	1	0	1	0	0
Anthony Angello	8	1	0	1	-1	4
Evan Rodrigues†	7	1	0	1	0	4
Erik Gudbranson	7	0	0	0	0	4
Zach Trotman	8	0	0	0	-1	4
Thomas Di Pauli	2	0	0	0	-3	10
Total		221	373	594	—	501

Playoffs

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Sidney Crosby	4	2	1	3	0	0
Bryan Rust	4	1	2	3	-2	2
Jake Guentzel	4	1	2	3	1	0
Jason Zucker	4	2	0	2	0	0
Patric Hornqvist	4	1	1	2	-3	0
Conor Sheary	4	0	2	2	3	2
Teddy Blueger	4	1	0	1	-1	0
Evgeni Malkin	4	0	1	1	-3	6
Justin Schultz	4	0	1	1	-4	0
Brian Dumoulin	4	0	1	1	0	4
Jared McCann	3	0	1	1	-1	2
John Marino	4	0	1	1	-1	2
Brandon Tanev	4	0	1	1	-2	0
Zach Aston-Reese	4	0	1	1	-3	2
Patrick Marleau	4	0	0	0	-4	0
Jack Johnson	4	0	0	0	-4	0
Kris Letang	4	0	0	0	-2	0
Marcus Pettersson	4	0	0	0	1	4
Sam Lafferty	1	0	0	0	-1	0
Total		8	15	23	—	24

Goaltenders

Regular Season

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Tristan Jarry	33	31	1926:29	20	12	1	78	2.43	985	0.921	3	0	0	0
Matt Murray	38	38	2237:30	20	11	5	107	2.87	1055	0.899	1	0	1	2
Total		69	4163:59	40	23	6	185	2.67	2040	0.909	4	0	1	2

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Matt Murray	3	3	192:07	1	2	0	8	2.5	93	0.914	0	0	0	0
Tristan Jarry	1	1	58:46	0	1	0	1	1.02	21	0.952	0	0	0	0
Total		4	250:53	1	3	0	9	2.16	114	0.921	0	0	0	0

^†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 honours

• Kris Letang became the first defenseman to record 500 points for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He set the mark in a 7–2 win over the Winnipeg Jets on October 13.

Transactions

The Penguins have been involved in the following transactions during the 2019–20 season.

Trades

Date	Details
June 29, 2019 (2019-06-29)	To Arizona Coyotes Phil Kessel Dane Birks 4th-round pick in 2021	To Pittsburgh Penguins Alex Galchenyuk Pierre-Olivier Joseph
October 25, 2019 (2019-10-25)	To Anaheim Ducks Erik Gudbranson	To Pittsburgh Penguins Andreas Martinsen 7th-round pick in 2021
February 10, 2020 (2020-02-10)	To Minnesota Wild Alex Galchenyuk Calen Addison Conditional 1st-round pick in 2020	To Pittsburgh Penguins Jason Zucker
February 24, 2020 (2020-02-24)	To San Jose Sharks Conditional 3rd-round pick in 2020.[a]	To Pittsburgh Penguins Patrick Marleau
February 24, 2020 (2020-02-24)	To Buffalo Sabres Dominik Kahun	To Pittsburgh Penguins Conor Sheary Evan Rodrigues
August 25, 2020 (2020-08-25)	To Pittsburgh Penguins Kasperi Kapanen Pontus Åberg Jesper Lindgren	To Toronto Maple Leafs David Warsofsky Evan Rodrigues Filip Hållander 1st-round pick in 2020
September 11, 2020 (2020-09-11)	To Minnesota Wild Nick Bjugstad*	To Pittsburgh Penguins Conditional 7th-round pick in 2021
September 24, 2020 (2020-09-24)	To Florida Panthers Patric Hörnqvist	To Pittsburgh Penguins Mike Matheson Colton Sceviour

• ^a - Third-round pick becomes a second-rounder if the Pittsburgh Penguins win the Stanley Cup in 2020.

Free agents

Player	Acquired from	Lost to	Date	Contract terms
Brandon Tanev	Winnipeg Jets		July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)	6-years for $21 million
Andrew Agozzino	Colorado Avalanche		July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)	2-years for $1.4 million
David Warsofsky	Colorado Avalanche		July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)	2-years for $1.4 million

Waivers

Date	Player	To/From	Team
December 19, 2019 (2019-12-19)	Stefan Noesen	→	San Jose Sharks

Contract terminations

Date	Player	Via	Ref
July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)

Retirement

Date	Player	Ref

Signings

Player	Date	Contract terms
Kevin Czuczman	June 26, 2019	2-years for $700,000[ext]
Zach Trotman	June 26, 2019	2-years for $700,000[ext]
Joseph Blandisi	July 3, 2019	1-year for $700,000
Adam Johnson	July 3, 2019	1-year for $700,000
Teddy Blueger	July 16, 2019	2-years for $1.5 million
Zach Aston-Reese	July 22, 2019	2-years for $2 million
John Marino	August 8, 2019	Entry-level contract
Marcus Pettersson	January 28, 2020	5-years for $20,125,875[ext]

• ^ext - Contract extension.

Draft picks

See also: List of Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks

Below are the Pittsburgh Penguins' selections at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 21 and 22, 2019, at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	21	Samuel Poulin	RW	Canada	Sherbrooke Phoenix (QMJHL)
3	74[1]	Nathan Legare	RW	Canada	Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL)
5	145	Judd Caulfield	RW	United States	U.S. NTDP (USHL)
7	203[2]	Valtteri Puustinen	RW	Finland	HPK (Liiga)
7	211[3]	Santeri Airola	D	Finland	SaiPa U20 (Nuorten SM-liiga)

Notes:

• ¹ - The Chicago Blackhawks' third-round pick went to the Pittsburgh Penguins as the result of a trade on June 22, 2019, that sent Buffalo's fourth-round pick, Tampa Bay's fifth-round pick and a seventh-round pick all in 2019 (98th, 151st and 207th overall) to Arizona in exchange for this pick.

• ² The Vegas Golden Knights' seventh-round pick went to the Pittsburgh Penguins as the result of a trade on June 23, 2018, that sent a seventh-round pick in 2018 to Vegas in exchange for this pick.

• ³ The Washington Capitals' seventh-round pick went to the Pittsburgh Penguins as the result of a trade on June 22, 2019, that sent a seventh-round pick in 2020 to San Jose in exchange for this pick.