 Cullen made his NHL debut in 1988 – 89 , appearing in 79 games with the Penguins and scoring 49 points . He was given a greater role with the Penguins the following year after Mario Lemieux missed 21 games due to a back injury and responded by scoring 32 goals and 92 points to finish third in team scoring . Additionally , he played for Team Canada at the 1990 World Championship , scoring four points in ten games . Cullen had his best season in 1990 – 91 . As one of the team 's top offensive centres , he scored 94 points in the Penguins ' first 65 games and played in his first NHL All @-@ Star Game . However , when Lemieux returned after missing an additional 50 @-@ games due to injury , Cullen 's playing time and production declined . 
