2000 – 01 Pittsburgh Penguins season The 2000 - 2001 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the team ' s 34th in the National Hockey League . The team played 82 games for new coach Ivan Hlinka , who replaced Herb Brooks , who stepped down to remain a scout with the team . Offseason . Herb Brooks resigned as coach at the end of the previous season , but remained with the team as a scout . Ivan Hlinka succeeded Brooks as head coach . Former Penguin Joe Mullen became an assistant coach along with his former teammate Randy Hillier . Regular season . The Penguins opened the regular season by splitting a two - game series against the Nashville Predators in Japan . On December 9 , 2000 , it was announced by owner Mario Lemieux that he intended to come back as a player . Lemieux returned to the ice on December 27 , 2000 . Prior to the game , his # 66 banner was lowered from the rafters of the Mellon Arena with son Austin watching . Lemieux scored a goal and set up two others ( including one on his first shift ) , and the Penguins won , 5 - 0 over the Toronto Maple Leafs . Prior to Lemieux ' s return , the Penguins were 15 - 14 - 6 - 1 . After his comeback , the Penguins went 27 - 14 - 3 - 2 for a regular season record of 42 - 28 - 9 - 3 and a third place finish in the Atlantic Division for a playoff spot . The Penguins were shut out only once all year ( October 28 vs . the New Jersey Devils ) . Only New Jersey scored more goals than Pittsburgh during the regular season . Jaromir Jagr had a stellar year , leading the team in goals ( 52 ) , assists ( 69 ) and points ( 121 ) ; Alexei Kovalev had the best season in his career , finishing with 44 goals and 51 assists for 95 points ; Martin Straka finished second on the team in assists ( 68 ) and had 27 goals for 95 points ; Robert Lang had 32 goals and 48 assists for 80 points ; and in just 43 games , Lemieux had 35 goals and 41 assists for 76 points . Playoffs . Eastern Conference Quarter - finals . The Penguins opened the playoffs against the Washington Capitals . It was their sixth meeting in the playoffs . The Penguins were shut out in game one , 1 - 0 . Lemieux scored a goal and an assist in game two , won 2 - 1 by the Penguins . Newcomer Johan Hedberg shut out the Capitals in game three . The Capitals won game four in overtime , 4 - 3 . However , game winning goals by Lemieux and Martin Straka in games five and six won the series for the Penguins , 4 games to 2 . Eastern Conference Semi - finals . The Penguins played the Buffalo Sabres in the conference semi - finals . The Penguins won game one by the score of 3 - 0 and game two by the score of 3 - 1 . The Sabres won the next three games , pushing the Penguins to elimination . However , overtime winning goals by Straka and Darius Kasparaitis in games six and seven won the series for the Penguins . Game seven was Dominik Hasek ' s last game as a Sabre ; he would sign with the Detroit Red Wings in the offseason . Eastern Conference Finals . The Penguins and the New Jersey Devils split the first two games of the series before the Devils took games three , four , and five to eliminate the Penguins . Player stats . Skaters . " Note : GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points ; PIM = Penalty minutes " Awards and records . Milestones . Making their NHL debuts in 2000 - 2001 were the following : Roman Simicek , Toby Petersen , Billy Tibbetts , Greg Crozier , and Johan Hedberg . Awards . Broadcaster Mike Lange was also awarded the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award in 2001 , thus securing his induction into the broadcaster ' s wing of the Hockey Hall of Fame . Jaromir Jagr , Alexei Kovalev , and Mario Lemieux were all selected to participate in the 2001 NHL All - Star Game . Lemieux captained the North American All - Stars and scored two points . Kovalev was a reserve for the World All - Stars and also scored two points . Jagr was voted as a starter for the World All - Stars , but could not play due to an injury . Transactions . The Penguins were involved in the following transactions during the 2000 - 2001 season : Draft picks . The Penguins selected the following players at the 2000 NHL Entry Draft at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary : Farm teams . The Wilkes - Barre / Scranton Penguins of the AHL finished second in the Mid - Atlantic Division with a record of 36 - 33 - 9 - 2 record . They defeated the Syracuse Crunch , Philadelphia Phantoms and Hershey Bears to win the Robert W . Clarke Trophy as Western Conference playoff champions . They lost to the Saint John Flames in six games in the Calder Cup Finals . John Slaney won the Eddie Shore Award as defenseman of the year . The ECHL ' s Wheeling Nailers finished last overall with a record of 24 - 40 - 8 .