# 1981–82 Pittsburgh Penguins season

The 1981–82 Pittsburgh Penguins season was their 15th in the National Hockey League. The qualified for the playoffs for the fourth straight year, but lost in the opening round to the eventual Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders three games to two. This would be the Penguins last playoff appearance until 1989.

## Regular season
### Final standings

Patrick Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS |
| New York Islanders | 80 | 54 | 16 | 10 | 385 | 250 | 118 |
| New York Rangers | 80 | 39 | 27 | 14 | 316 | 306 | 92 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 80 | 38 | 31 | 11 | 325 | 313 | 87 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 80 | 31 | 36 | 13 | 310 | 337 | 75 |
| Washington Capitals | 80 | 26 | 41 | 13 | 319 | 338 | 65 |
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

Patrick Division record vs. opponents :
Vs. Wales Conference
Vs. Patrick Division
1981–82 NHL records
Team
NYI
NYR
PHI
PIT
WSH
Total
N.Y. Islanders
—6−26−1−16−27−0−125−5−2
N.Y. Rangers
2−6—4−2−24−3−13−2−313−13−6
Philadelphia
1−6−12−4−2—5−2−13−4−111−16−5
Pittsburgh
2−63−4−12–5–1—5−2−112−17−3
Washington
0−7−12−3−34–3–12–5–1—8−18−6
Vs. Adams Division
1981–82 NHL records
Team
BOS
BUF
HFD
MTL
QUE
Total
N.Y. Islanders
1−21−22−0−12−11−1−17−6−2
N.Y. Rangers
1−22−0−11−1−11−21−1−16−6−3
Philadelphia
2−12−13−01−21−1−19−5−1
Pittsburgh
1−1−11−22−0−11−23−08−5−2
Washington
0−30−32−12−10−2−14−10−1
Vs. Campbell Conference
Vs. Norris Division
1981–82 NHL records
Team
CHI
DET
MIN
STL
TOR
WIN
Total
N.Y. Islanders
3−03−02−0−12−0−13−02−115−1−2
N.Y. Rangers
3−02−12−12−0−11−1−11−1−111−4−3
Philadelphia
1−1−12−0−11−1−13−02−11−210−5−3
Pittsburgh
0−1−21−21−21−20−1−22−15−9−4
Washington
1−21−0−20−2−12−12−12−18−7−3
Vs. Smythe Division
1981–82 NHL records
Team
CGY
COL
EDM
LAK
VAN
Total
N.Y. Islanders
1−0−22−0−11−1−11−22−17−4−4
N.Y. Rangers
2−0−12−0−10−32−13−09−4−2
Philadelphia
3−02−11−22−0−10−2−18−5−2
Pittsburgh
0−1−23−00−31−1−12−0−16−5−4
Washington
3−01−20−2−11−1−11−1−16−6−3 :

## Schedule and results

1981–82 Schedule :
October: 5–7–2 (Home: 4–2–0; Road: 1–5–2), 12 Points
#DateVisitorScoreHomeLocationRecordPoints
1Oct 6Pittsburgh Penguins2–6St. Louis BluesThe Checkerdome0–1–00
2Oct 7Pittsburgh Penguins5–5Chicago Black HawksChicago Stadium0–1–11
3Oct 10Quebec Nordiques1–2Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena1–1–13
4Oct 11Pittsburgh Penguins2–8Philadelphia FlyersThe Spectrum1–2–13
5Oct 14New York Islanders4–1Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena1–3–13
6Oct 17Minnesota North Stars2–5Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena2–3–15
7Oct 18Pittsburgh Penguins2–3Detroit Red WingsJoe Louis Arena2–4–15
8Oct 20Colorado Rockies3–5Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena3–4–17
9Oct 22Pittsburgh Penguins3–3Calgary FlamesStampede Corral3–4–28
10Oct 23Pittsburgh Penguins3–8Edmonton OilersNorthlands Coliseum3–5–28
11Oct 25Pittsburgh Penguins6–4Vancouver CanucksPacific Coliseum4–5–210
12Oct 28Toronto Maple Leafs5–3Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena4–6–210
13Oct 29Pittsburgh Penguins4–6Philadelphia FlyersThe Spectrum4–7–210
14Oct 31Buffalo Sabres1–3Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena5–7–212 :
November: 7–1–2 (Home: 5–0–1; Road: 2–1–1), 16 Points
#DateVisitorScoreHomeLocationRecordPoints
15Nov 4New York Rangers3–6Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena6–7–214
16Nov 7Philadelphia Flyers2–7Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena7–7–216
17Nov 11Pittsburgh Penguins3–2Washington CapitalsCapital Centre8–7–218
18Nov 14Pittsburgh Penguins3–3Boston BruinsBoston Garden8–7–319
19Nov 18St. Louis Blues1–6Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena9–7–321
20Nov 20Toronto Maple Leafs3–3Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena9–7–422
21Nov 21Pittsburgh Penguins5–9Montreal CanadiensMontreal Forum9–8–422
22Nov 24Pittsburgh Penguins7–1Quebec NordiquesQuebec Coliseum10–8–424
23Nov 25Montreal Canadiens1–2Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena11–8–426
24Nov 28Detroit Red Wings3–5Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena12–8–428 :
December: 4–7–2 (Home: 4–2–1; Road: 0–5–1), 10 Points
#DateVisitorScoreHomeLocationRecordPoints
25Dec 2Winnipeg Jets2–4Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena13–8–430
26Dec 5Pittsburgh Penguins1–3St. Louis BluesThe Checkerdome13–9–430
27Dec 6Pittsburgh Penguins4–7Buffalo SabresBuffalo Memorial Auditorium13–10–430
28Dec 9Philadelphia Flyers4–1Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena13–11–430
29Dec 12Washington Capitals4–7Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena14–11–432
30Dec 14Pittsburgh Penguins4–5New York RangersMadison Square Garden (IV)14–12–432
31Dec 16Los Angeles Kings6–7Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena15–12–434
32Dec 19New York Rangers3–3Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena15–12–535
33Dec 20Pittsburgh Penguins1–3Philadelphia FlyersThe Spectrum15–13–535
34Dec 23Pittsburgh Penguins4–4Toronto Maple LeafsMaple Leaf Gardens15–13–636
35Dec 26Buffalo Sabres7–5Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena15–14–636
36Dec 27Pittsburgh Penguins3–5New York RangersMadison Square Garden (IV)15–15–636
37Dec 30Washington Capitals2–6Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena16–15–638 :
January: 5–8–2 (Home: 4–1–1; Road: 1–7–1), 12 Points
#DateVisitorScoreHomeLocationRecordPoints
38Jan 2Hartford Whalers4–9Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena17–15–640
39Jan 3Pittsburgh Penguins6–4Hartford WhalersXL Center18–15–642
40Jan 6Pittsburgh Penguins3–6Chicago Black HawksChicago Stadium18–16–642
41Jan 7Pittsburgh Penguins4–5Detroit Red WingsJoe Louis Arena18–17–642
42Jan 9Vancouver Canucks3–4Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena19–17–644
43Jan 13Pittsburgh Penguins1–6Winnipeg JetsWinnipeg Arena19–18–644
44Jan 16Pittsburgh Penguins0–4Calgary FlamesStampede Corral19–19–644
45Jan 17Pittsburgh Penguins3–3Vancouver CanucksPacific Coliseum19–19–745
46Jan 20Boston Bruins4–5Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena20–19–747
47Jan 21Pittsburgh Penguins1–6New York IslandersNassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum20–20–747
48Jan 23Philadelphia Flyers5–5Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena20–20–848
49Jan 26Pittsburgh Penguins2–9New York IslandersNassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum20–21–848
50Jan 27New York Islanders6–3Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena20–22–848
51Jan 30Winnipeg Jets1–2Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena21–22–850
52Jan 31Pittsburgh Penguins3–8Washington CapitalsCapital Centre21–23–850 :
February: 3–8–2 (Home: 2–4–2; Road: 1–4–0), 8 Points
#DateVisitorScoreHomeLocationRecordPoints
53Feb 3Minnesota North Stars9–6Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena21–24–850
54Feb 6Washington Capitals6–4Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena21–25–850
55Feb 7Pittsburgh Penguins4–5Philadelphia FlyersThe Spectrum21–26–850
56Feb 10Hartford Whalers3–3Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena21–26–951
57Feb 11Pittsburgh Penguins2–4Montreal CanadiensMontreal Forum21–27–951
58Feb 13Los Angeles Kings3–3Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena21–27–1052
59Feb 16Pittsburgh Penguins2–6New York IslandersNassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum21–28–1052
60Feb 17New York Rangers5–3Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena21–29–1052
61Feb 20Philadelphia Flyers5–6Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena22–29–1054
62Feb 21New York Islanders3–4Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena23–29–1056
63Feb 25Pittsburgh Penguins2–4New York IslandersNassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum23–30–1056
64Feb 27Edmonton Oilers4–1Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena23–31–1056
65Feb 28Pittsburgh Penguins4–2New York RangersMadison Square Garden (IV)24–31–1058 :
March: 5–5–3 (Home: 1–2–3; Road: 4–3–0), 13 Points
#DateVisitorScoreHomeLocationRecordPoints
66Mar 3Boston Bruins3–2Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena24–32–1058
67Mar 6Pittsburgh Penguins6–4Quebec NordiquesQuebec Coliseum25–32–1060
68Mar 7Calgary Flames4–4Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena25–32–1161
69Mar 10Pittsburgh Penguins7–2Washington CapitalsCapital Centre26–32–1163
70Mar 13Colorado Rockies2–6Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena27–32–1165
71Mar 15Pittsburgh Penguins3–4Minnesota North StarsMet Center27–33–1165
72Mar 17Pittsburgh Penguins4–10Edmonton OilersNorthlands Coliseum27–34–1165
73Mar 20Pittsburgh Penguins5–7Los Angeles KingsThe Forum27–35–1165
74Mar 21Pittsburgh Penguins6–0Colorado RockiesMcNichols Sports Arena28–35–1167
75Mar 24New York Rangers7–2Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena28–36–1167
76Mar 27Chicago Black Hawks3–3Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena28–36–1268
77Mar 28Pittsburgh Penguins6–5Washington CapitalsCapital Centre29–36–1270
78Mar 31Washington Capitals4–4Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena29–36–1371 :
April: 2–0–0 (Home: 1–0–0; Road: 1–0–0), 4 Points
#DateVisitorScoreHomeLocationRecordPoints
79Apr 2Pittsburgh Penguins7–5New York RangersMadison Square Garden (IV)30–36–1373
80Apr 4New York Islanders2–7Pittsburgh PenguinsCivic Arena31–36–1375 :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point) :

## Playoffs

The Penguins lost in the division semi-final round (3–2) versus the New York Islanders.
* New York won series 3–2

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Rick Kehoe | 71 | 33 | 52 | 85 | –27 | 8 |
| Randy Carlyle | 73 | 11 | 64 | 75 | –16 | 131 |
| Pat Boutette | 80 | 23 | 51 | 74 | –23 | 230 |
| Paul Gardner | 59 | 36 | 33 | 69 | –7 | 28 |
| Mike Bullard | 75 | 36 | 27 | 63 | –1 | 91 |
| George Ferguson | 71 | 22 | 31 | 53 | –6 | 45 |
| Paul Baxter | 76 | 9 | 34 | 43 | –9 | 409 |
| Greg Malone | 78 | 15 | 24 | 39 | –24 | 125 |
| Pat Price | 77 | 7 | 31 | 38 | 2 | 322 |
| Peter Lee | 74 | 18 | 16 | 34 | –8 | 98 |
| Rick MacLeish$^†$ | 40 | 13 | 12 | 25 | –7 | 28 |
| Doug Shedden | 38 | 10 | 15 | 25 | –2 | 12 |
| Gregg Sheppard | 58 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 9 | 35 |
| Rod Schutt | 35 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 3 | 42 |
| Mark Johnson$^‡$ | 46 | 10 | 11 | 21 | –14 | 30 |
| Ron Stackhouse | 76 | 2 | 19 | 21 | –11 | 102 |
| Bobby Simpson | 26 | 9 | 9 | 18 | –3 | 4 |
| Steve Gatzos | 16 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| Pat Graham | 42 | 6 | 8 | 14 | –1 | 55 |
| André St. Laurent$^†$ | 18 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 5 | 4 |
| Mario Faubert | 14 | 4 | 8 | 12 | –2 | 14 |
| Greg Hotham$^†$ | 25 | 4 | 6 | 10 | –6 | 16 |
| Paul Mulvey$^‡$ | 27 | 1 | 7 | 8 | –7 | 76 |
| Jim Hamilton | 11 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 2 |
| Marc Chorney | 60 | 1 | 6 | 7 | –11 | 63 |
| Kevin McClelland | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 4 |
| Randy Boyd | 23 | 0 | 2 | 2 | –5 | 49 |
| Russ Anderson$^‡$ | 31 | 0 | 1 | 1 | –4 | 98 |
| Tony Feltrin | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –3 | 4 |
| Dave Hannan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –2 | 0 |
| Bennett Wolf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Gary Rissling | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –2 | 55 |
| Total | Total | 310 | 509 | 819 | — | 2,196 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Paul Gardner | 5 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 2 |
| Rick Kehoe | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| Randy Carlyle | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 16 |
| Pat Boutette | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| Rod Schutt | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Greg Hotham | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| André St. Laurent | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 8 |
| Rick MacLeish | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Bullard | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Kevin McClelland | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| George Ferguson | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Randy Boyd | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Pat Graham | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Peter Lee | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Gatzos | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ron Stackhouse | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul Baxter | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Greg Malone | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Bobby Simpson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marc Chorney | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pat Price | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| Total | Total | 13 | 22 | 35 | — | 110 |

### Goaltenders

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | W | L | T | GA | SO |
| Michel Dion | 62 | 25 | 24 | 12 | 226 | 0 |
| Gary Edwards$^†$ | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 22 | 1 |
| Paul Harrison$^‡$ | 13 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 64 | 0 |
| Nick Ricci | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 31 | 36 | 13 | 326 | 1 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | W | L | T | GA | SO |
| Michel Dion | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 2 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 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

* Paul Baxter became the first Penguins player to receive 400 penalty minutes in a season. He did so in a 7–2 loss to New York on April 4, finishing the season with 409 PIMs.
* Mike Bullard established a new franchise rookie record for goals with 36. He topped the previous high of 31 held by Pierre Larouche.
* Ron Stackhouse established a franchise record for goals (66), assists (277) and points (343) by a defenseman. He had led in all categories since the mid-1970s.

## Transactions

The Penguins were involved in the following transactions during the 1981–82 season:

### Trades

| September 11, 1981 | To Toronto Maple Leafs 1982 4th round pick (Vladimir Růžička) | To Pittsburgh Penguins Paul Harrison |
| September 28, 1981 | To New York Islanders Rob Holland | To Pittsburgh Penguins future considerations |
| December 29, 1981 | To Hartford Whalers Russ Anderson 1983 8th round pick (Christian Duperron) | To Pittsburgh Penguins Rick MacLeish |
| February 3, 1982 | To Toronto Maple Leafs 1983 5th round pick(Dan Hodgson) future considerations (1982 6th round pick--Craig Kales) | To Pittsburgh Penguins Greg Hotham |
| February 14, 1982 | To St. Louis Blues 1984 8th round pick (Don Porter) | To Pittsburgh Penguins right to claim Gary Edwards off waivers from Blues without having to pay a cash waiver price |
| March 2, 1982 | To Minnesota North Stars Mark Johnson | To Pittsburgh Penguins 1982 2nd round pick (Tim Hrynewich) |

### Additions and subtractions

Additions :
| Player | Former team | Via |
| Pat Boutette | Hartford Whalers | compensation for signing of Greg Millen (1981-06-29) |
| Kevin McClelland | Hartford Whalers | compensation for signing of Greg Millen (1981-06-29) |
| Michel Dion | Winnipeg Jets | free agency (1981-06-30) |
| Paul Mulvey | Washington Capitals | compensation for signing of Orest Kindrachuk (1981-09-04) |
| Bobby Simpson | St. Louis Blues | free agency (1981-10-01) |
| Gary Edwards | St. Louis Blues | waivers (1982-02-14) |
| Andre St. Laurent | Los Angeles Kings | waivers (1982-02-23) |
Subtractions :
| Player | New team | Via |
| Greg Millen | Hartford Whalers | free agency (1981-06-15) |
| Orest Kindrachuk | Washington Capitals | free agency (1981-09-04) |
| Paul Mulvey | Los Angeles Kings | waivers (1981-12-30) |
| Paul Harrison | St. Louis Blues | waivers (1982-02-08) |

## Draft picks

The 1981 NHL Entry Draft was held on June 10, 1981, in Montreal.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 2 | 28 | Steve Gatzos | Right Wing | Canada | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL) |
| 3 | 49 | Tom Thornbury | Right Wing | Canada | Niagara Falls Flyers (OHL) |
| 4 | 70 | Norm Schmidt | Defense | Canada | Oshawa Generals (OHL) |
| 6 | 109 | Paul Edwards | Defense | Canada | Oshawa Generals (OHL) |
| 6 | 112 | Rod Buskas | Defense | Canada | Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL) |
| 7 | 133 | Geoff Wilson | Left Wing | Canada | Winnipeg Warriors (WHL) |
| 8 | 154 | Mitch Lamoureux | Center | Canada | Oshawa Generals (OHL) |
| 9 | 175 | Dean DeFazio | Left Wing | Canada | Brantford Alexanders (OHL) |
| 10 | 196 | David Hannan | Center | Canada | Brantford Alexanders (OHL) |