1994–95 Florida Panthers season

The 1994–95 Florida Panthers season was the Panthers' second season. For the second straight year, they missed the playoffs by just one point. While the team tied for 6th in the league in goaltending behind the solid tandem of John Vanbiesbrouck and Mark Fitzpatrick and finished first in most shutouts (6), it finished last in the league in scoring with 115 goals and was shut out 5 times. The Panthers tied the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators for fewest shorthanded goals scored (1).[1]

1994–95 Florida Panthers
Division5th Atlantic
Conference9th Eastern
1994–95 record20–22–6
Home record9–12–3
Road record11–10–3
Goals for115
Goals against127
Team information
General managerBryan Murray
CoachRoger Neilson
CaptainBrian Skrudland
Alternate captainsScott Mellanby
Gord Murphy
ArenaMiami Arena
Team leaders
GoalsJesse Belanger (15)
AssistsStu Barnes (19)
PointsJesse Belanger (29)
Penalty minutesPaul Laus (138)
Plus/minusJesse Belanger (+7)
WinsJohn Vanbiesbrouck (14)
Goals against averageJohn Vanbiesbrouck (2.47)

The Panthers were one of only three teams in 1994–95 to have a better regular-season record on the road then at home (the other two teams were the Chicago Blackhawks and the Los Angeles Kings).

Offseason

NHL Draft
Round Pick Player Nationality College/junior/club team
11Ed Jovanovski (D) CanadaWindsor Spitfires (OHL)
227Rhett Warrener (D) CanadaSaskatoon Blades (WHL)
231Jason Podollan (RW) CanadaSpokane Chiefs (WHL)
236Ryan Johnson (C) CanadaThunder Bay Flyers (USHL)
484David Nemirovsky (RW) CanadaOttawa 67's (OHL)
5105David Geris (D) CanadaWindsor Spitfires (OHL)
7157Matt O'Dette (RW) CanadaKitchener Rangers (OHL)
8183Jason Boudrias (C) CanadaLaval Titan (QMJHL)
10235Tero Lehtera (LW) FinlandKiekko-Espoo (Finland)
11261Per Gustafsson (D) SwedenHV71 (Sweden)
S1Sean McCann (D) CanadaHarvard University (ECAC)

[2]

Regular season

January

The Panthers began the lockout shortened 1994–95 season on January 21, 1995, losing on the road to the New York Islanders by a 2–1 score, as Zigmund Palffy scored two goals in just over a two-minute span in the middle of the third period. The Panthers lost their next two games, including their home opener to the Pittsburgh Penguins by a 6–5 score, and on the road to their state rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning 3–2, before earning their first win, defeating the Lightning in the second game of a home and home series by a 4–2 score. Florida closed out the month with two wins in their last three games.

The team had a record of 3–4–0 in January, earning six points, which placed them in third place in the Atlantic Division, and seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

February

Florida began February rather slowly, as after a 1–1 tie against the Montreal Canadiens on February 2, the club lost their next two games to extend their overall winless streak to four games. The Panthers snapped out of their slump though, as John Vanbiesbrouck stopped all 26 shots that the Philadelphia Flyers fired at him, in a 3–0 victory on February 9. The club then had a seven-game homestand, beginning on February 11 with a solid 4–3 win over the Hartford Whalers, however, their two-game winning streak ended the following night, losing 4–2 to the New Jersey Devils. The Panthers shut out the Ottawa Senators 2–0 in their next game to return to the win column, however, the team lost their last four games on the home stand, going a disappointing 2–5–0 on it. Back on the road on February 25, the Panthers snapped their losing skid, defeating the Ottawa Senators 4–1, before ending the month with a 0–0 tie against the defending Stanley Cup champions, the New York Rangers.

At the end of February, the Panthers had an overall record of 7–11–2, earning 16 points, as the club struggled on home ice, posting a 3–7–1 record in their first 11 home games. Florida was in sixth place in the Atlantic Division, and 12th in the Eastern Conference.

March

Florida opened March with two road games, as they tied the Philadelphia Flyers 2–2 on March 2, followed by a 6–1 loss at the hands of the New Jersey Devils. On March 8, the club ended their three-game winless streak, defeating the Ottawa Senators 3–2, before heading out on the road again for two games, in which the Panthers shut out the Boston Bruins 2–0, followed by a 4–1 win over the Hartford Whalers to extend their winning streak to three games. The team returned home for a three-game home stand, where they remained hot, tying the Buffalo Sabres 1–1, soundly defeating the Washington Capitals 5–1 to extend their overall unbeaten streak to five games, before losing in overtime to the Philadelphia Flyers 4–3 on March 18. Florida then embarked on a three-game road trip, where they began with a 5–4 overtime loss to the Quebec Nordiques, before defeating the Montreal Canadiens 3–2 to get a much needed victory. The Panthers finished the trip with a 3–0 loss to the Buffalo Sabres, and were starting to fall out of the playoff race. Florida ended March with a brief two game home stand, in which they shut out the high scoring Pittsburgh Penguins 2–0, with John Vanbiesbrouck making 24 saves for the shut out, followed by a 4–4 tie against the Hartford Whalers.

The Panthers had an overall record of 13–16–4 at the end of March, earning 30 points, in which placed them fourth in the Atlantic Division, and ninth in the Eastern Conference, only one point behind the Hartford Whalers for the eighth and final playoff spot.

April/May

The Panthers began April with a solid 4–1 road victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 2, which moved the club into eighth place, however, Florida found themselves out of a playoff spot after being blown out by the New York Rangers by a 5–0 score on home ice on April 5, as the club fell into tenth spot, behind the New York Rangers and Hartford Whalers by a single point for the last post-season spot. The Panthers continued to struggle over their next three games, going 0–2–1, falling five points behind the eighth place Buffalo Sabres. The club tried to claw their way back race, going 4–1–0 in their next five games, however, Florida still remained two points out of the playoffs. Florida finished April on a three-game winless streak, posting a 0–2–1 record, which eliminated the club from post-season contention. The team finished the season with two wins, defeating the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins on the road.

The club finished the 1994–95 season with a 20–22–6 record, earning 46 points, which placed them fifth in the Atlantic Division, and ninth in the Eastern Conference, just one point behind the New York Rangers for the final playoff spot.

Final standings
Atlantic Division
No. CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
12Philadelphia Flyers482816415013260
25New Jersey Devils482218813612152
36Washington Capitals482218813612052
48New York Rangers482223313913447
59Florida Panthers482022611512746
612Tampa Bay Lightning481728312014437
713New York Islanders481528512615835

[3]

Note: No. = Division rank, CR = Conference rank, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
       Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Schedule and results
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1LJanuary 21, 19951–2@ New York Islanders (1994–95)0–1–0
2LJanuary 23, 19955–6Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95)0–2–0
3LJanuary 25, 19952–3@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95)0–3–0
4WJanuary 26, 19954–2Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95)1–3–0
5WJanuary 28, 19952–1@ Hartford Whalers (1994–95)2–3–0
6WJanuary 30, 19952–1@ Boston Bruins (1994–95)3–3–0
7LJanuary 31, 19951–5New York Islanders (1994–95)3–4–0
8TFebruary 2, 19951–1 OTMontreal Canadiens (1994–95)3–4–1
9LFebruary 4, 19952–3@ Washington Capitals (1994–95)3–5–1
10LFebruary 7, 19953–7@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95)3–6–1
11WFebruary 9, 19953–0@ Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95)4–6–1
12WFebruary 11, 19954–3Hartford Whalers (1994–95)5–6–1
13LFebruary 12, 19952–4New Jersey Devils (1994–95)5–7–1
14WFebruary 15, 19952–0Ottawa Senators (1994–95)6–7–1
15LFebruary 17, 19954–5Boston Bruins (1994–95)6–8–1
16LFebruary 19, 19951–4Quebec Nordiques (1994–95)6–9–1
17LFebruary 21, 19953–5New York Rangers (1994–95)6–10–1
18LFebruary 23, 19952–5Montreal Canadiens (1994–95)6–11–1
19WFebruary 25, 19954–1@ Ottawa Senators (1994–95)7–11–1
20TFebruary 28, 19950–0 OT@ New York Rangers (1994–95)7–11–2
21TMarch 2, 19952–2 OT@ Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95)7–11–3
22LMarch 4, 19951–6@ New Jersey Devils (1994–95)7–12–3
23WMarch 8, 19953–2Ottawa Senators (1994–95)8–12–3
24WMarch 11, 19952–0@ Boston Bruins (1994–95)9–12–3
25WMarch 12, 19954–1@ Hartford Whalers (1994–95)10–12–3
26LMarch 14, 19951–2 OTBuffalo Sabres (1994–95)10–13–3
27WMarch 16, 19955–1Washington Capitals (1994–95)11–13–3
28LMarch 18, 19953–4 OTPhiladelphia Flyers (1994–95)11–14–3
29LMarch 20, 19954–5 OT@ Quebec Nordiques (1994–95)11–15–3
30WMarch 22, 19953–2@ Montreal Canadiens (1994–95)12–15–3
31LMarch 24, 19950–3@ Buffalo Sabres (1994–95)12–16–3
32WMarch 26, 19952–0Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95)13–16–3
33TMarch 29, 19954–4 OTHartford Whalers (1994–95)13–16–4
34WApril 2, 19954–1@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95)14–16–4
35LApril 5, 19950–5New York Rangers (1994–95)14–17–4
36TApril 8, 19952–2 OT@ New York Islanders (1994–95)14–17–5
37LApril 12, 19951–3New York Islanders (1994–95)14–18–5
38LApril 14, 19950–3@ Washington Capitals (1994–95)14–19–5
39WApril 16, 19954–1Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95)15–19–5
40LApril 18, 19951–3Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95)15–20–5
41WApril 20, 19951–0New Jersey Devils (1994–95)16–20–5
42WApril 22, 19954–2Quebec Nordiques (1994–95)17–20–5
43WApril 24, 19955–1@ Ottawa Senators (1994–95)18–20–5
44LApril 26, 19950–5@ Buffalo Sabres (1994–95)18–21–5
45LApril 28, 19951–3@ New Jersey Devils (1994–95)18–22–5
46TApril 30, 19952–2 OTWashington Capitals (1994–95)18–22–6
47WMay 2, 19954–3@ New York Rangers (1994–95)19–22–6
48WMay 3, 19954–3@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95)20–22–6

Player statistics

Forwards

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player GP G A Pts PIM
Jesse Belanger4715142918
Stu Barnes411019298
Scott Mellanby4813122590
Dave Lowry4510102025
Jody Hull46118198
Bill Lindsay481091946
Tom Fitzgerald483131631
Brian Skrudland47591488
Mike Hough48671338
Johan Garpenlov2739120
Rob Niedermayer48461036
Bob Kudelski266392
Andrei Lomakin311676
Gaetan Duchesne131232
Jeff Daniels30000
Jamie Linden400017
Dave Tomlinson50000

Defencemen

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player GP G A Pts PIM
Gord Murphy466162224
Jason Woolley34491318
Brian Benning2417818
Magnus Svensson1925710
Paul Laus37077138
Geoff Smith4724622
Randy Moller1703316
Robert Svehla51120
Brent Severyn911237
Dallas Eakins1701135
Joe Cirella2001121
Stephane Richer10002
Keith Brown130002

Goaltending

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SV% = Save percentage ; GAA = Goals against average; SO = Shutouts

Player GP W L T SV% GAA SO
John Vanbiesbrouck3714154.9142.474
Mark Fitzpatrick15672.9002.642

Awards and records

References
  1. https://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1995.html
  2. http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl1994e.html
  3. Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 154. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.