The 2014–15 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the 48th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 5, 1967. It was a somewhat slow season for the Penguins, as they finished with a sub-.600 points percentage for the first time in 9 years. Off-season On May 16, 2014, Penguins' co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle fired general manager Ray Shero after the team captured the Metropolitan Division title, but failed to beat the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals. On June 6, 2014, the Penguins named Jim Rutherford as the new GM, and fired Head Coach Dan Bylsma. On June 25, 2014, over two weeks after new GM Rutherford fired Bylsma, the Penguins appointed Mike Johnston as their new head coach. They also proceeded to fire Tony Granato and Todd Reirden while hiring Rick Tocchet as an assistant coach to Johnston. On June 27, 2014, during the first round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, the Penguins traded right winger James Neal to the Nashville Predators in exchange for right winger Patric Hornqvist and restricted free agent Nick Spaling. Pre-season The Penguins released their 2014 pre-season schedule on June 18, 2014. Game log |- style="text-align:center; background:#fcf;" | 1 || Sept 22 || 7:00 pm || Detroit Red Wings || 2–1 || Pittsburgh Penguins || WPCW-TV || 0–1–0 |- style="text-align:center; background:#fcf;" | 2 || Sept 23 || 7:00 pm || Pittsburgh Penguins || 0–2 || Columbus Blue Jackets || – || 0–2–0 |- style="text-align:center; background:#cfc;" | 3 || Sept 25 || 7:00 pm || Minnesota Wild || 2–3 OT || Pittsburgh Penguins || – || 1–2–0 |- style="text-align:center; background:#cfc;" | 4 || Sept 27 || 4:00 pm || Columbus Blue Jackets || 1–2 || Pittsburgh Penguins || WPCW-TV || 2–2–0 |- style="text-align:center; background:#fcf;" | 5 || Sept 29 || 8:00 pm || Pittsburgh Penguins || 1–4 || Minnesota Wild || ROOT || 2–3–0 |- style="text-align:center; background:#cfc;" | 6 || Oct 1 || 7:30 pm || Pittsburgh Penguins || 2–0 || Detroit Red Wings || ROOT || 3–3–0 |- |- style="text-align:center;" | Legend: = Win = Loss = OT/SO Loss Statistics Updated as of October 2, 2014 Note – Statistics compiled from Official Game/Event Summaries from NHL.com Regular season Game log |- |- style="background:#cfc;" | 1 || 9 || 7:00 pm || Anaheim Ducks || 4–6 || Pittsburgh Penguins || Consol Energy Center (18,633) || 1–0–0 ||