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Change came for the Penguins on October 18, 2006, when Evgeni Malkin made his NHL debut. He set the modern NHL record with a goal in each of his first six games. The Penguins finished the 2006-07 season in fifth place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 47-24-11, totaling 105 points, only two points behind the Atlantic Division winners, the New Jersey Devils. Malkin would record points in 16 consecutive games. It was the franchise’s first 100-point season in 11 years and represented an enormous 47-point leap from the previous season. In the first round of the 2007 playoffs the eventual Stanley Cup runners-up, the Ottawa Senators, defeated the Penguins 4-1. At the season’s end, rookies Malkin and Jordan Staal were finalists for the Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded to the Rookie of the Year, which Malkin won.
On April 6, 1997, the franchise was rocked when Mario Lemieux, citing ongoing health concerns and his disapproval with the way NHL hockey was being officiated, announced he would retire at the conclusion of the 1997 playoffs. Lemieux was so respected in the NHL, and his achievements over the course of his career were so great, that he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the year he retired, the three-year waiting period being waived.
Called the “Blue Jerseys of Doom” by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the alternate jerseys were worn when Sidney Crosby sustained a broken jaw and when he suffered a concussion in the 2011 Winter Classic. In 2014, the Penguins released their new alternate uniforms. Evgeni Malkin was also concussed during a game when the Penguins donned the alternate uniforms. The new black uniforms are throwbacks to the early part of Lemieux’s playing career, emulating the uniforms worn by the Penguins’ 1991 and 1992 Cup-winning teams.
In 1986-87, they missed the playoffs by just two games and saw four teams with equal or worse records qualify. On December 31, 1988, Lemieux became the only player in history to score a goal in all five possible game situations in the same game (even strength, shorthanded, penalty shot, power play, and empty net). The Pens shocked the New York Rangers in a four-game sweep in the first round; however, the Philadelphia Flyers halted their in the second round. In 1987-88, for the second time in a row, the Penguins missed the playoffs by one game. In 1989, Pittsburgh finally broke through the barrier and made the playoffs on the back of Lemieux leading the league in goals, assists and points.
Founded during the 1967 expansion, the Penguins have qualified for six Stanley Cup Finals, winning the Stanley Cup five times-in 1991, 1992, 2009, 2016, and 2017. Along with the Edmonton Oilers, the Penguins are tied for the most Stanley Cup championships among the non-Original Six teams and sixth overall. Several of the team’s former members have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, including co-owner Mario Lemieux, who purchased the Penguins in 1999 and brought the club out of bankruptcy. With their Stanley Cup wins in 2016 and 2017, the Penguins became the first back-to-back champions in the salary cap era.
