1994–95 Tampa Bay Lightning season

1994–95 Tampa Bay Lightning
1994–95 Tampa Bay Lightning
Division	6th Atlantic
Conference	12th Eastern
1994–95 record	17–28–3
Home record	10–14–0
Road record	7–14–3
Goals for	120
Goals against	144
Team information
General manager	Phil Esposito
Coach	Terry Crisp
Captain	Vacant
Arena	ThunderDome
Average attendance	19,932
Minor league affiliate(s)	Atlanta Knights; Nashville Knights
Team leaders
Goals	Brian Bradley, Petr Klima (13)
Assists	Brian Bradley (27)
Points	Brian Bradley (40)
Penalty minutes	Enrico Ciccone (225)
Plus/minus	Adrien Plavsic (+5)
Wins	Daren Puppa (14)
Goals against average	Daren Puppa (2.68)
	← 1993–94 1995–96 →

The 1994-95 Tampa Bay Lightning season was the third season in franchise history. The team traded away defenseman Shawn Chambers to the New Jersey Devils and forward Denis Savard to the Chicago Blackhawks; both players went on to have memorable playoff performances in 1995. Brian Bradley and Peter Klima both led the team in goals with 13, while Rob Zamuner led the team with 3 shorthanded goals. By April 21, the Lightning had a 17–22–3 record with only 118 goals against in 42 games. Although they had only scored 109 goals, Darren Puppa's solid goaltending kept the team ahead of the New York Islanders in the Atlantic Division standings. However, the Lightning finished the season with 6 losses in a row, getting outscored 26–11 to finish 17–28–3 for 37 points. An Islanders' loss to Philadelphia on May 2 ensured that the Lightning would not finish last place in the division.

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

Atlantic Division
No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	2	Philadelphia Flyers	48	28	16	4	150	132	60
2	5	New Jersey Devils	48	22	18	8	136	121	52
3	6	Washington Capitals	48	22	18	8	136	120	52
4	8	New York Rangers	48	22	23	3	139	134	47
5	9	Florida Panthers	48	20	22	6	115	127	46
6	12	Tampa Bay Lightning	48	17	28	3	120	144	37
7	13	New York Islanders	48	15	28	5	126	158	35

^[1]

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.

Eastern Conference^[2]
R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Quebec Nordiques	NE	48	30	13	5	185	134	65
2	Philadelphia Flyers	AT	48	28	16	4	150	132	60
3	Pittsburgh Penguins	NE	48	29	16	3	181	158	61
4	Boston Bruins	NE	48	27	18	3	150	127	57
5	New Jersey Devils	AT	48	22	18	8	136	121	52
6	Washington Capitals	AT	48	22	18	8	136	120	52
7	Buffalo Sabres	NE	48	22	19	7	130	119	51
8	New York Rangers	AT	48	22	23	3	139	134	47

9	Florida Panthers	AT	48	20	22	6	115	127	46
10	Hartford Whalers	NE	48	19	24	5	127	141	43
11	Montreal Canadiens	NE	48	18	23	7	125	148	43
12	Tampa Bay Lightning	AT	48	17	28	3	120	144	37
13	New York Islanders	AT	48	15	28	5	126	158	35
14	Ottawa Senators	NE	48	9	34	5	117	174	23

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast

bold – Qualified for playoffs

Schedule and results

1994–95 regular season^[3]

January: 3–3–0 (home: 2–2–0; road: 1–1–0)

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Recap
1	L	January 20, 1995	3–5	Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95)	0–1–0	Recap
2	L	January 22, 1995	2–5	Buffalo Sabres (1994–95)	0–2–0	Recap
3	W	January 25, 1995	3–2	Florida Panthers (1994–95)	1–2–0	Recap
4	L	January 26, 1995	2–4	@ Florida Panthers (1994–95)	1–3–0	Recap
5	W	January 28, 1995	4–1	@ New York Islanders (1994–95)	2–3–0	Recap
6	W	January 31, 1995	4–1	Montreal Canadiens (1994–95)	3–3–0	Recap

February: 5–6–2 (home: 3–4–0; road: 2–2–2)

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Recap
7	T	February 2, 1995	3–3 OT	@ New York Rangers (1994–95)	3–3–1	Recap
8	L	February 4, 1995	3–6	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95)	3–4–1	Recap
9	L	February 5, 1995	1–2	@ Buffalo Sabres (1994–95)	3–5–1	Recap
10	W	February 7, 1995	5–2	New York Islanders (1994–95)	4–5–1	Recap
11	W	February 10, 1995	4–3	Hartford Whalers (1994–95)	5–5–1	Recap
12	L	February 11, 1995	2–3	New York Rangers (1994–95)	5–6–1	Recap
13	L	February 14, 1995	2–5	Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95)	5–7–1	Recap
14	L	February 17, 1995	1–2	Ottawa Senators (1994–95)	5–8–1	Recap
15	W	February 18, 1995	3–1	Boston Bruins (1994–95)	6–8–1	Recap
16	L	February 20, 1995	1–3	New York Rangers (1994–95)	6–9–1	Recap
17	W	February 23, 1995	4–1	@ New York Islanders (1994–95)	7–9–1	Recap
18	W	February 24, 1995	4–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95)	8–9–1	Recap
19	T	February 26, 1995	1–1 OT	@ Washington Capitals (1994–95)	8–9–2	Recap

March: 5–8–0 (home: 2–5–0; road: 3–3–0)

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Recap
20	L	March 1, 1995	2–8	@ Quebec Nordiques (1994–95)	8–10–2	Recap
21	W	March 2, 1995	3–2 OT	@ Ottawa Senators (1994–95)	9–10–2	Recap
22	L	March 4, 1995	2–3 OT	@ Hartford Whalers (1994–95)	9–11–2	Recap
23	L	March 7, 1995	3–4	Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95)	9–12–2	Recap
24	L	March 10, 1995	2–3	New Jersey Devils (1994–95)	9–13–2	Recap
25	L	March 12, 1995	1–3	@ Washington Capitals (1994–95)	9–14–2	Recap
26	L	March 13, 1995	0–3	Washington Capitals (1994–95)	9–15–2	Recap
27	W	March 18, 1995	2–1	@ New Jersey Devils (1994–95)	10–15–2	Recap
28	W	March 19, 1995	6–1	@ Buffalo Sabres (1994–95)	11–15–2	Recap
29	L	March 24, 1995	3–4 OT	Boston Bruins (1994–95)	11–16–2	Recap
30	W	March 27, 1995	3–2 OT	Montreal Canadiens (1994–95)	12–16–2	Recap
31	L	March 29, 1995	2–4	Washington Capitals (1994–95)	12–17–2	Recap
32	W	March 31, 1995	2–0	Hartford Whalers (1994–95)	13–17–2	Recap

April: 4–10–1 (home: 3–2–0; road: 1–8–1)

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Recap
33	L	April 2, 1995	1–4	Florida Panthers (1994–95)	13–18–2	Recap
34	T	April 4, 1995	1–1 OT	@ New Jersey Devils (1994–95)	13–18–3	Recap
35	L	April 6, 1995	4–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95)	13–19–3	Recap
36	L	April 8, 1995	1–5	@ Boston Bruins (1994–95)	13–20–3	Recap
37	W	April 9, 1995	3–0	@ Hartford Whalers (1994–95)	14–20–3	Recap
38	W	April 11, 1995	5–2	New York Islanders (1994–95)	15–20–3	Recap
39	L	April 14, 1995	2–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95)	15–21–3	Recap
40	L	April 16, 1995	1–4	@ Florida Panthers (1994–95)	15–22–3	Recap
41	W	April 18, 1995	3–2	New Jersey Devils (1994–95)	16–22–3	Recap
42	W	April 20, 1995	5–2	Quebec Nordiques (1994–95)	17–22–3	Recap
43	L	April 22, 1995	1–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1994–95)	17–23–3	Recap
44	L	April 24, 1995	1–3	Buffalo Sabres (1994–95)	17–24–3	Recap
45	L	April 26, 1995	4–6	@ New York Rangers (1994–95)	17–25–3	Recap
46	L	April 27, 1995	1–6	@ Ottawa Senators (1994–95)	17–26–3	Recap
47	L	April 29, 1995	1–4	@ Quebec Nordiques (1994–95)	17–27–3	Recap

May: 0–1–0 (home: 0–1–0; road: 0–0–0)

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Recap
48	L	May 3, 1995	3–4	Ottawa Senators (1994–95)	17–28–3	Recap

Legend:

Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point)

Player statistics

Scoring

Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
† = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Lightning only.
‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Lightning only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season
No.	Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
19	Brian Bradley	C	46	13	27	40	−6	42
77	Chris Gratton	C	46	7	20	27	−2	89
85	Petr Klima	LW	47	13	13	26	−13	26
14	John Tucker	C	46	12	13	25	−10	14
44	Roman Hamrlik	D	48	12	11	23	−18	86
15	Paul Ysebaert†	C	29	8	11	19	−1	12
18	Denis Savard‡	C	31	6	11	17	−6	10
29	Alex Selivanov	RW	43	10	6	16	−2	14
7	Rob Zamuner	LW	43	9	6	15	−3	24
28	Marc Bureau	C	48	2	12	14	−8	30
22	Shawn Chambers‡	D	24	2	12	14	0	6
34	Mikael Andersson	LW	36	4	7	11	−3	4
27	Alexander Semak†	C	22	5	5	10	−3	12
24	Danton Cole‡	LW	26	3	3	6	−1	6
25	Marc Bergevin	D	44	2	4	6	−6	51
39	Enrico Ciccone	D	41	2	4	6	3	225
4	Cory Cross	D	43	1	5	6	−6	41
3	Eric Charron	D	45	1	4	5	1	26
9	Jason Wiemer	C	36	1	4	5	−2	44
21	Bob Halkidis†	D	27	1	3	4	−12	40
6	Adrien Plavsic†	D	15	2	1	3	5	4
33^[a]	Brantt Myhres	RW	15	2	0	2	−2	81
20	Rudy Poeschek	D	25	1	1	2	0	92
16^[b]	Ben Hankinson†	RW	18	0	2	2	1	6
27	Jim Cummins‡	RW	10	1	0	1	−3	41
49	Brent Gretzky	C	3	0	1	1	−2	0
93	Daren Puppa	G	36	0	1	1		2
30	Jean-Claude Bergeron	G	17	0	0	0		2
17	Gerard Gallant	LW	1	0	0	0	0	0
26	Chris LiPuma	D	1	0	0	0	2	0
23	Rich Sutter†‡	RW	4	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

No.	Player	Regular season
No.	Player	GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
93	Daren Puppa	36	14	19	2	946	90	2.68	.905	1	2013
30	Jean-Claude Bergeron	17	3	9	1	374	49	3.33	.869	1	883

Awards and records

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Alexander Selivanov	January 20, 1995	^[4]
	Jason Wiemer	January 22, 1995
	Brantt Myhres	March 4, 1995

Transactions

Draft picks

Tampa Bay's draft picks at the 1994 NHL Entry Draft in Hartford, Connecticut.^[5]

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team
1	8	Jason Wiemer (C)	Canada	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
2	34	Colin Cloutier (C)	Canada	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
3	55	Vadim Epanchintsev (C)	Russia	Spartak Moscow (Russia)
4	86	Dmitri Klevakin (LW)	Russia	Spartak Moscow (Russia)
6	137	Dan Juden (C)	United States	Governor Dummer Academy (USHS-MA)
6	138	Bryce Salvador (D)	Canada	Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)
7	164	Chris Maillet (D)	Canada	Red Deer Rebels (WHL)
8	190	Alexei Baranov (D)	Russia	Dynamo Moscow (Russia)
9	216	Yuri Smirnov (C)	Russia	Spartak Moscow (Russia)
10	242	Shawn Gervais (C)	Canada	Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
11	268	Brian White (D)	United States	Arlington Catholic School (USHS-MA)
S	8	Francois Bouchard (D)	Canada	Northeastern University (Hockey East)

Notes

^ Myhres wore number 27 in his first game.
^ Hankinson wore number 23 in his first two games.

References

"Tampa Bay Lightning 1994-95 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
"1994-95 Tampa Bay Lightning Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved September 7, 2023.

^ 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.
^ "1994-1995 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
^ "1994-95 Tampa Bay Lightning Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
^ "1994-95 NHL Debuts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
^ "1994 NHL Entry Draft". hockeydb.com.

[4] Myhres wore number 27 in his first game.

[5] Hankinson wore number 23 in his first two games.

[1] 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.

[2] "1994-1995 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.

[3] "1994-95 Tampa Bay Lightning Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved September 7, 2023.

[6] "1994-95 NHL Debuts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved October 5, 2024.

[7] "1994 NHL Entry Draft". hockeydb.com.

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