1978–79 Pittsburgh Penguins season

1978–79 Pittsburgh Penguins
Division	2nd Norris
Conference	4th Prince of Wales
1978–79 record	36-31-13
Goals for	281
Goals against	279
Team information
General manager	Baz Bastien
Coach	Johnny Wilson
Captain	Orest Kindrachuk
Arena	Pittsburgh Civic Arena
Team leaders
Goals	Greg Malone (35)
Assists	Orest Kindrachuk (42)
Points	Greg Malone (65)
Penalty minutes	Dave Schultz (157)
Wins	Denis Herron (22)
Goals against average	Denis Herron (3.37)

The 1978–79 Pittsburgh Penguins season was their 12th in the National Hockey League. The Penguins finished 2nd in the Norris Division and lost in Quarter-finals to the Boston Bruins 4 games to 0.

Regular Season

Final Standings

Norris Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Montreal Canadiens	80	52	17	11	337	204	115
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	36	31	13	281	279	85
Los Angeles Kings	80	34	34	12	292	286	80
Washington Capitals	80	24	41	15	273	338	63
Detroit Red Wings	80	23	41	16	252	295	62

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game Log

Regular Season Results
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 11, 1978	2–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79)	0–1–0
2	L	October 12, 1978	2–8	@ Boston Bruins (1978–79)	0–2–0
3	T	October 14, 1978	4–4	Boston Bruins (1978–79)	0–2–1
4	L	October 18, 1978	3–5	New York Islanders (1978–79)	0–3–1
5	L	October 19, 1978	1–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79)	0–4–1
6	W	October 21, 1978	5–1	Washington Capitals (1978–79)	1–4–1
7	T	October 25, 1978	6–6	St. Louis Blues (1978–79)	1–4–2
8	L	October 28, 1978	2–4	Atlanta Flames (1978–79)	1–5–2
9	L	October 29, 1978	2–3	@ New York Rangers (1978–79)	1–6–2
10	L	November 1, 1978	4–6	@ Washington Capitals (1978–79)	1–7–2
11	L	November 3, 1978	0–2	@ Atlanta Flames (1978–79)	1–8–2
12	W	November 4, 1978	7–3	Detroit Red Wings (1978–79)	2–8–2
13	W	November 8, 1978	6–3	Colorado Rockies (1978–79)	3–8–2
14	T	November 9, 1978	4–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79)	3–8–3
15	L	November 11, 1978	1–2	New York Rangers (1978–79)	3–9–3
16	W	November 16, 1978	6–3	@ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79)	4–9–3
17	W	November 18, 1978	3–1	@ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79)	5–9–3
18	L	November 22, 1978	2–3	Montreal Canadiens (1978–79)	5–10–3
19	L	November 23, 1978	4–8	@ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79)	5–11–3
20	L	November 25, 1978	1–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79)	5–12–3
21	L	November 26, 1978	2–8	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79)	5–13–3
22	W	November 29, 1978	5–3	Washington Capitals (1978–79)	6–13–3
23	W	December 1, 1978	7–4	@ Washington Capitals (1978–79)	7–13–3
24	W	December 2, 1978	5–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79)	8–13–3
25	T	December 5, 1978	3–3	@ New York Islanders (1978–79)	8–13–4
26	W	December 6, 1978	6–4	Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79)	9–13–4
27	T	December 8, 1978	3–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79)	9–13–5
28	T	December 9, 1978	4–4	Buffalo Sabres (1978–79)	9–13–6
29	W	December 13, 1978	3–0	St. Louis Blues (1978–79)	10–13–6
30	L	December 14, 1978	1–2	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79)	10–14–6
31	W	December 16, 1978	6–5	Vancouver Canucks (1978–79)	11–14–6
32	T	December 17, 1978	3–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79)	11–14–7
33	W	December 21, 1978	4–1	@ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79)	12–14–7
34	L	December 23, 1978	3–5	@ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79)	12–15–7
35	W	December 27, 1978	5–2	Los Angeles Kings (1978–79)	13–15–7
36	W	December 30, 1978	3–1	Detroit Red Wings (1978–79)	14–15–7
37	W	December 31, 1978	5–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79)	15–15–7
38	L	January 3, 1979	3–5	Vancouver Canucks (1978–79)	15–16–7
39	T	January 5, 1979	3–3	@ Atlanta Flames (1978–79)	15–16–8
40	L	January 6, 1979	3–4	Los Angeles Kings (1978–79)	15–17–8
41	W	January 10, 1979	3–2	Montreal Canadiens (1978–79)	16–17–8
42	W	January 13, 1979	5–3	Boston Bruins (1978–79)	17–17–8
43	W	January 14, 1979	5–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79)	18–17–8
44	W	January 16, 1979	5–0	Minnesota North Stars (1978–79)	19–17–8
45	L	January 17, 1979	1–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79)	19–18–8
46	L	January 20, 1979	2–5	Washington Capitals (1978–79)	19–19–8
47	L	January 24, 1979	1–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79)	19–20–8
48	L	January 25, 1979	3–5	@ Colorado Rockies (1978–79)	19–21–8
49	W	January 27, 1979	5–3	Los Angeles Kings (1978–79)	20–21–8
50	L	January 31, 1979	1–4	Montreal Canadiens (1978–79)	20–22–8
51	W	February 3, 1979	4–2	Detroit Red Wings (1978–79)	21–22–8
52	L	February 4, 1979	3–8	@ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79)	21–23–8
53	W	February 15, 1979	6–5	Minnesota North Stars (1978–79)	22–23–8
54	W	February 17, 1979	6–3	Buffalo Sabres (1978–79)	23–23–8
55	L	February 18, 1979	2–6	@ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79)	23–24–8
56	W	February 21, 1979	3–1	Montreal Canadiens (1978–79)	24–24–8
57	L	February 22, 1979	0–12	@ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79)	24–25–8
58	W	February 24, 1979	5–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79)	25–25–8
59	T	February 25, 1979	2–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79)	25–25–9
60	W	February 28, 1979	5–3	Colorado Rockies (1978–79)	26–25–9
61	L	March 3, 1979	4–8	@ St. Louis Blues (1978–79)	26–26–9
62	W	March 4, 1979	7–2	@ Colorado Rockies (1978–79)	27–26–9
63	L	March 7, 1979	0–4	Los Angeles Kings (1978–79)	27–27–9
64	W	March 10, 1979	3–2	Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79)	28–27–9
65	L	March 11, 1979	0–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79)	28–28–9
66	W	March 13, 1979	9–3	@ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79)	29–28–9
67	T	March 14, 1979	3–3	@ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79)	29–28–10
68	W	March 17, 1979	5–2	@ Washington Capitals (1978–79)	30–28–10
69	W	March 18, 1979	5–1	@ New York Rangers (1978–79)	31–28–10
70	T	March 21, 1979	2–2	Washington Capitals (1978–79)	31–28–11
71	W	March 22, 1979	3–1	@ Boston Bruins (1978–79)	32–28–11
72	T	March 24, 1979	3–3	@ New York Islanders (1978–79)	32–28–12
73	T	March 25, 1979	2–2	New York Islanders (1978–79)	32–28–13
74	W	March 27, 1979	5–1	@ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79)	33–28–13
75	W	March 28, 1979	7–1	New York Rangers (1978–79)	34–28–13
76	L	March 31, 1979	3–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79)	34–29–13
77	L	April 1, 1979	2–7	Atlanta Flames (1978–79)	34–30–13
78	W	April 3, 1979	3–2	@ St. Louis Blues (1978–79)	35–30–13
79	W	April 7, 1979	4–3	Detroit Red Wings (1978–79)	36–30–13
80	L	April 8, 1979	2–5	@ Washington Capitals (1978–79)	36–31–13

Player Stats

Skaters

Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; A= Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in Minutes

			Regular Season						Playoffs
Player	#		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Greg Malone	12		80	35	30	65	52		7	0	1	1	10
Orest Kindrachuk	26		79	18	42	60	84		7	4	1	5	7
Peter Lee	10		80	32	26	58	24		7	0	3	3	0
Peter Mahovlich	20		60	14	39	53	39		2	0	1	1	0
George Ferguson	11		80	21	29	50	37		7	2	1	3	0
Randy Carlyle	25		70	13	34	47	78		7	0	0	0	12
Ross Lonsberry	18		80	24	22	46	38		7	0	2	2	9
Rick Kehoe	17		57	27	18	45	2		7	0	2	2	0
Rod Schutt	23		74	24	21	45	33		7	2	0	2	4
Ron Stackhouse	3		75	10	33	43	54		7	0	0	0	4
Gregg Sheppard	19		60	15	22	37	9		7	1	2	3	0
Dale Tallon	4		63	5	24	29	35		-	-	-	-	-
Tom Bladon	2		78	4	23	27	64		7	0	4	4	2
Colin Campbell	6		65	2	18	20	137		7	1	4	5	30
Blair Chapman	9		71	10	8	18	18		7	1	0	1	2
Russ Anderson	7		72	3	13	16	93		2	0	0	0	0
Gary McAdam†	16		28	5	9	14	2		7	2	1	3	0
Dave Schultz‡	8		47	4	9	13	157		-	-	-	-	-
Wayne Bianchin	14		40	7	4	11	20		-	-	-	-	-
Jacques Cossette	27		38	7	2	9	16		3	0	1	1	4
Denis Herron	1		56	0	2	2	18
Kim Davis	22		1	1	0	1	0		-	-	-	-	-
Bob Paradise	24		14	0	1	1	4		2	0	0	0	0
Gordie Laxton	30		1	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-
Jim Hamilton	23		2	0	0	0	0		5	3	0	3	0
Lex Hudson	5		2	0	0	0	0		2	0	0	0	0
Tom Price	28		2	0	0	0	4		-	-	-	-	-
Mike Meeker	16, 8		4	0	0	0	5		-	-	-	-	-
Brian Spencer	22		7	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-
Greg Millen	29		28	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Penguins. Stats reflect time with the Penguins only. ^‡Traded mid-season

Goaltenders

Note: GP= Games played; TOI= Time on ice (minutes); W= Wins; L= Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals Against Average

			Regular Season									Playoffs
Player	#		GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA		GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	GAA
Denis Herron	1		56	3208	22	19	12	180	0	3.37		7	421	2	5	24	0	3.42
Greg Millen	29		28	1532	14	11	1	86	2	3.37		-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Gordie Laxton	30		1	60	0	1	0	8	0	8.00		-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Awards and Records

• The Penguins did not receive any awards this season.

Transactions

The Penguins were involved in the following transactions during the 1978–79 season:

Trades

June 14, 1978	To Pittsburgh Penguins Tom Bladon Orest Kindrachuk Ross Lonsberry	To Philadelphia Flyers 1st round pick in 1978 Draft (Behn Wilson)
June 14, 1978	To Pittsburgh Penguins Randy Carlyle George Ferguson	To Toronto Maple Leafs Dave Burrows
September 6, 1978	To Pittsburgh Penguins Gregg Sheppard	To Atlanta Flames Jean Pronovost
October 9, 1978	To Pittsburgh Penguins Dale Tallon	To Chicago Black Hawks 2nd round pick in 1980 Draft (Ken Solheim)
October 18, 1978	To Pittsburgh Penguins Rod Schutt	To Montreal Canadiens 1st round pick in 1981 Draft (Mark Hunter)
November 17, 1978	To Pittsburgh Penguins cash	To Vancouver Canucks Dunc Wilson
February 6, 1979	To Pittsburgh Penguins Gary McAdam	To Buffalo Sabres Dave Schultz

Additions and Subtractions

Additions Player Former team Via

Subtractions Player New team Via Gene Carr Atlanta Flames free agency (1978-06-06) Ed Gilbert Cincinnati Stingers (WHA) free agency (1978-10)

Draft Picks

Amateur Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team
2	25.	Mike Meeker	Canada	Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
4	61.	Shane Pearsall	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OMJHL)
5	75.	Rob Garner	Canada	Toronto Marlboros (OMJHL)

References

• Penguins on Hockey Database