# 2020–21 Pittsburgh Penguins season

The 2020–21 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the 54th season for the National Hockey League team that was established on June 5, 1967. On December 20, 2020, the league temporarily realigned into four divisions with no conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing closure of the Canada–United States border. As a result of this realignment, the Penguins would play this season in the East Division and would only play against the other teams in their new division during the regular season and potentially the first two rounds of the playoffs.
On April 29, 2021, the Penguins clinched a playoff berth with a 5–4 overtime win over the Washington Capitals, extending their playoff streak to 15 seasons – the longest active streak among the four North American major leagues, after the San Antonio Spurs of National Basketball Association missed the playoffs for the first time in 22 years. (including MLB, the NFL, and the NBA). On May 8, the team clinched the East Division title after defeating the Buffalo Sabres 1-0, for their first division championship since the 2013–14 season. The Penguins were then defeated in the First Round in six games by the New York Islanders. On April 20, 2021, the Penguins barreled through the first two periods en route to a 6-0 lead at the end of the second period. The Devils outscored them 6-1 in the third period, but the Penguins still won, 7-6. The Penguins became the first team in NHL history to be outscored by 5 goals in the third period of a game but still be on the winning end.

## Standings
### Divisional standings

East Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | y – Pittsburgh Penguins | 56 | 37 | 16 | 3 | 29 | 196 | 156 | +40 | 77 |
| 2 | x – Washington Capitals | 56 | 36 | 15 | 5 | 29 | 191 | 163 | +28 | 77 |
| 3 | x – Boston Bruins | 56 | 33 | 16 | 7 | 25 | 168 | 136 | +32 | 73 |
| 4 | x – New York Islanders | 56 | 32 | 17 | 7 | 24 | 156 | 128 | +28 | 71 |
| 5 | e – New York Rangers | 56 | 27 | 23 | 6 | 24 | 177 | 157 | +20 | 60 |
| 6 | e – Philadelphia Flyers | 56 | 25 | 23 | 8 | 17 | 163 | 201 | −38 | 58 |
| 7 | e – New Jersey Devils | 56 | 19 | 30 | 7 | 15 | 145 | 194 | −49 | 45 |
| 8 | e – Buffalo Sabres | 56 | 15 | 34 | 7 | 11 | 138 | 199 | −61 | 37 |

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020.
2020–21 game log :
January: 5–3–1 (Home: 4–0–0; Road: 1–3–1)
#DateVisitorScoreHomeDecisionAttendanceRecordPoints
1January 13Pittsburgh3–6PhiladelphiaJarry00–1–00
2January 15Pittsburgh2–5PhiladelphiaJarry00–2–00
3January 17Washington3–4 SOPittsburghDeSmith01–2–02
4January 19Washington4–5 OTPittsburghDeSmith02–2–04
5January 22NY Rangers3–4 SOPittsburghJarry03–2–06
6January 24NY Rangers2–3PittsburghJarry04–2–08
7January 26Pittsburgh2–3 OTBostonJarry04–2–19
8January 28Pittsburgh1–4BostonJarry04–3–19
9January 30Pittsburgh5–4 OTNY RangersDeSmith05–3–111 :
February: 6–5–0 (Home: 3–1–0; Road: 3–4–0)
#DateVisitorScoreHomeDecisionAttendanceRecordPoints
10February 1Pittsburgh1–3NY RangersDeSmith05–4–111
—February 2New Jersey–PittsburghPostponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for March 21.
—February 4New Jersey–PittsburghPostponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for April 20.
11February 6Pittsburgh3–4NY IslandersJarry05–5–111
12February 11Pittsburgh4–3 SONY IslandersDeSmith06–5–113
13February 14Washington3–6PittsburghJarry07–5–115
14February 16Washington3–1PittsburghJarry07–6–115
15February 18NY Islanders1–4PittsburghJarry08–6–117
16February 20NY Islanders2–3PittsburghJarry09–6–119
17February 23Pittsburgh3–2 OTWashingtonJarry010–6–121
18February 25Pittsburgh2–5WashingtonJarry010–7–121
19February 27Pittsburgh4–3 OTNY IslandersJarry011–7–123
20February 28Pittsburgh0–2NY IslandersDeSmith011–8–123 :
March: 12–3–1 (Home: 9–2–1; Road: 3–1–0)
#DateVisitorScoreHomeDecisionAttendanceRecordPoints
21March 2Philadelphia2–5PittsburghJarry2,80012–8–125
22March 4Philadelphia4–3PittsburghJarry2,80012–9–125
23March 6Philadelphia3–4PittsburghJarry2,80013–9–127
24March 7NY Rangers1–5PittsburghDeSmith2,80014–9–129
25March 9NY Rangers2–4PittsburghJarry2,80015–9–131
26March 11Pittsburgh5–2BuffaloJarry016–9–133
27March 13Pittsburgh3–0BuffaloDeSmith017–9–135
28March 15Boston1–4PittsburghJarry2,80018–9–137
29March 16Boston2–1PittsburghDeSmith2,80018–10–137
30March 18Pittsburgh2–3New JerseyJarry1,80018–11–137
31March 20Pittsburgh3–1New JerseyDeSmith1,80019–11–139
32March 21New Jersey2–1 OTPittsburghJarry2,80019–11–240
33March 24Buffalo2–5PittsburghJarry2,80020–11–242
34March 25Buffalo0–4PittsburghDeSmith2,80021–11–244
35March 27NY Islanders3–6PittsburghJarry2,80022–11–246
36March 29NY Islanders1–2PittsburghJarry2,80023–11–248 :
April: 10–4–1 (Home: 5–1–1; Road: 5–3–0)
#DateVisitorScoreHomeDecisionAttendanceRecordPoints
37April 1Pittsburgh4–1BostonDeSmith2,19124–11–250
38April 3Pittsburgh5–7BostonDeSmith2,19124–12–250
39April 6Pittsburgh4–8NY RangersDeSmith1,69324–13–250
40April 8Pittsburgh5–2NY RangersJarry1,80025–13–252
41April 9Pittsburgh6–4New JerseyDeSmith3,60026–13–254
42April 11Pittsburgh5–2New JerseyJarry3,60027–13–256
43April 15Philadelphia2–1 SOPittsburghJarry4,67227–13–357
44April 17Pittsburgh3–2BuffaloJarry—28–13–359
45April 18Pittsburgh2–4BuffaloDeSmith028–14–359
46April 20New Jersey6–7PittsburghJarry4,67229–14–361
47April 22New Jersey1–5PittsburghJarry4,67230–14–363
48April 24New Jersey2–4PittsburghDeSmith4,67231–14–365
49April 25Boston0–1PittsburghJarry4,67232–14–367
50April 27Boston3–1PittsburghJarry4,67232–15–367
51April 29Pittsburgh5–4 OTWashingtonJarry2,13333–15–369 :
May: 4–1–0 (Home: 2–0–0; Road: 2–1–0)
#DateVisitorScoreHomeDecisionAttendanceRecordPoints
52May 1Pittsburgh3–0WashingtonJarry2,13334–15–371
53May 3Pittsburgh2–7PhiladelphiaDeSmith2,54234–16–371
54May 4Pittsburgh7–3PhiladelphiaJarry2,96135–16–373
55May 6Buffalo4–8PittsburghJarry4,67236–16–375
56May 8Buffalo0–1PittsburghLagace4,67237–16–377 :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = OT/SO Loss        = Postponement :

### Playoffs

2021 Stanley Cup playoffs :
East Division First Round vs. (E4) New York Islanders: New York won 4–2
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceSeriesRecap
1May 16NY Islanders4–3PittsburghOTJarry4,6720–1Recap
2May 18NY Islanders1–2PittsburghJarry9,3441–1Recap
3May 20Pittsburgh5–4NY IslandersJarry6,8002–1Recap
4May 22Pittsburgh1–4NY IslandersJarry6,8002–2Recap
5May 24NY Islanders3–2Pittsburgh2OTJarry9,3442–3Recap
6May 26Pittsburgh3–5NY IslandersJarry9,0002–4Recap :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Sidney Crosby | 55 | 24 | 38 | 62 | 8 | 26 |
| Jake Guentzel | 56 | 23 | 34 | 57 | 7 | 28 |
| Kris Letang | 55 | 7 | 38 | 45 | 19 | 32 |
| Bryan Rust | 56 | 22 | 20 | 42 | 9 | 18 |
| Jared McCann | 43 | 14 | 18 | 32 | 17 | 8 |
| Kasperi Kapanen | 40 | 11 | 19 | 30 | 15 | 7 |
| Evgeni Malkin | 33 | 8 | 20 | 28 | -4 | 24 |
| Teddy Blueger | 43 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 10 | 16 |
| Jason Zucker | 38 | 9 | 9 | 18 | -8 | 21 |
| Cody Ceci | 53 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 18 | 10 |
| Brandon Tanev | 32 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 12 | 22 |
| Mike Matheson | 44 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 9 | 28 |
| Zach Aston-Reese | 45 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 10 | 15 |
| Evan Rodrigues | 35 | 7 | 7 | 14 | -3 | 6 |
| Brian Dumoulin | 41 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 12 |
| John Marino | 52 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 5 | 8 |
| Jeff Carter$^†$ | 14 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 9 | 0 |
| Mark Jankowski | 45 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 4 | 6 |
| Colton Sceviour | 46 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 2 |
| Frederick Gaudreau | 19 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 2 |
| Marcus Pettersson | 47 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 22 |
| Sam Lafferty | 34 | 0 | 6 | 6 | -6 | 25 |
| Pierre-Olivier Joseph | 16 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Anthony Angello | 19 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Radim Zohorna | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Mark Friedman$^†$ | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
| Chad Ruhwedel | 17 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 14 |
| Drew O'Connor | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 2 |
| Yannick Weber | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 0 |
| Josh Currie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kevin Czuczman | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 0 |
| Juuso Riikola | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 193 | 324 | 517 | — | 377 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Kris Letang | 6 | 1 | 5 | 6 | -2 | 6 |
| Jeff Carter | 6 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
| Evgeni Malkin | 4 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -2 | 8 |
| Jason Zucker | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -1 | 2 |
| Bryan Rust | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -3 | 4 |
| Frederick Gaudreau | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Kasperi Kapanen | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -3 | 0 |
| Sidney Crosby | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 2 |
| Jake Guentzel | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -6 | 6 |
| Zach Aston-Reese | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Brian Dumoulin | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -1 | 2 |
| Cody Ceci | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -3 | 0 |
| Brandon Tanev | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 0 |
| Jared McCann | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Marcus Pettersson | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| Evan Rodrigues | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Mike Matheson | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 |
| Teddy Blueger | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 2 |
| John Marino | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 6 |
| Total | Total | 16 | 26 | 42 | — | 48 |

### Goaltenders

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Tristan Jarry | 39 | 38 | 2185:18 | 25 | 9 | 3 | 100 | 2.75 | 1100 | 0.909 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 8 |
| Casey DeSmith | 20 | 17 | 1132:19 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 48 | 2.54 | 543 | 0.912 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Maxime Lagace | 1 | 1 | 60:00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 1.000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 56 | 3377:37 | 37 | 16 | 3 | 148 | 2.63 | 1672 | 0.911 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 8 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Tristan Jarry | 6 | 6 | 396:07 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 21 | 3.18 | 187 | 0.888 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 6 | 396:07 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 21 | 3.18 | 187 | 0.888 | 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 records

* Sidney Crosby became the first person to play 1,000 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He set the mark in a game against the New York Islanders on February 20.

## Transactions

The Penguins have been involved in the following transactions during the 2020–21 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| October 7, 2020 (2020-10-07) | To Ottawa SenatorsMatt Murray | To Pittsburgh PenguinsJonathan Gruden 2nd-round pick in 2020 |
| April 12, 2021 (2021-04-12) | To Los AngelesConditional 3rd-round pick in 2022 Conditional 4th-round pick in 2023 | To Pittsburgh PenguinsJeff Carter |

## Draft picks

Below are the Pittsburgh Penguins' selections at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, which was originally scheduled for June 26–27, 2020 at the Bell Center in Montreal, Quebec, but was postponed on March 25, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was instead held on October 6–7, 2020, virtually via video conference call from the NHL Network studio in Secaucus, New Jersey.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 2 | 52 | Joel Blomqvist | G | Finland | Oulun Kärpät U20 (Jr. A SM-liiga) |
| 3 | 77 | Calle Clang | G | Sweden | Kristianstads IK (HockeyAllsvenskan) |
| 4 | 108 | Lukas Svejkovsky | C | United States | Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL) |
| 6 | 170 | Chase Yoder | C | United States | U.S. NTDP (USHL) |