The 2009–10 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the 43rd season of the franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Penguins entered the season as defending Stanley Cup champions. It was scheduled to be the last season with the Penguins' home venue as Mellon Arena before they moved into their new arena, the Consol Energy Center, which was being constructed adjacent to the Mellon Arena across Centre Avenue.
The regular season began with a home game against the New York Rangers in which the Penguins held a banner-raising ceremony beforehand.
The Penguins qualified for the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. They did not become champions of the Atlantic Division, but nonetheless finished in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with 101 points. They began the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs on April 14 against the Ottawa Senators. They beat the Senators but they were upset in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals by the Montreal Canadiens, losing in seven games.
Pre-season
|- style="text-align:center; background:#cfc;" | 1 || September 15 || Columbus Blue Jackets || 4–5 || Pittsburgh Penguins || OT || Fleury || 15,766 || 1–0–0 || Recap |- style="text-align:center; background:#fcf;" | 2 || September 18||Toronto Maple Leafs||4–3||Pittsburgh Penguins||||Johnson||16,621||1–1–0|| Recap |- style="text-align:center; background:#fcf;" | 3 || September 21||Pittsburgh Penguins||3–4||Montreal Canadiens||||Curry||21,273||1–2–0|| Recap |- style="text-align:center; background:#ffc;" | 4 || September 22||Pittsburgh Penguins||2–3||Toronto Maple Leafs||SO||Johnson||18,910||1–2–1|| Recap |- style="text-align:center; background:#fcf;" | 5 || September 24||Pittsburgh Penguins||2–5||Columbus Blue Jackets||||Fleury||12,638||1–3–1|| Recap |- style="text-align:center; background:#fcf;" | 6 || September 27||Pittsburgh Penguins||1–4||Detroit Red Wings||||Fleury||13,891||1–4–1|| Recap
|- style="text-align:center;" | Legend: = Win = Loss = OT/SO Loss
Regular season
First half: October to December The Penguins began the 2009–10 season on Friday, October 2. Prior to the game the team raised the Stanley Cup banner at Mellon Arena. The ceremonial banner raising was shown on a video board outside Mellon Arena, which displayed highlights from the previous season during the days leading up the game. The Penguins won their opening night game over the New York Rangers and defeated the New York Islanders the following night. After their first loss of the season to the Phoenix Coyotes, the Penguins embarked on a four-game road trip to complete a series of five games in eight days. The Penguins swept the four game road trip, setting a new franchise record for consecutive road wins to start a season. The Penguins extended their overall win-streak to seven games by winning the first three games of their ensuing homestand; the win-streak ended with a loss to the New Jersey Devils on October 24.
The Penguins began November with a three-game road trip in California. After defeating the Anaheim Ducks, the Penguins lost their first back-to-back games of the season to the Los Angeles Kings and the San Jose Sharks. The team then lost to the Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils. During the four-game losing streak, the Penguins were outscored 17–3. Against the Bruins, Sidney Crosby did not score a point for the fifth-consecutive game, the longest point-drought of his career. The Penguins ended their skid with a 6–5 overtime victory against Boston on November 14. Bill Guerin tied the game with .04 second left, and Pascal Dupuis scored in overtime.
Extended injuries hindered the team throughout much of the early season. On November 16, the Penguins played without four of the six defenceman that had started with the team. Additionally, they were without forwards Tyler Kennedy, Maxime Talbot and Chris Kunitz. Evgeni Malkin had also missed significant time. Later in the week, it was announced that defenceman Jay McKee would miss two to four weeks, but that Sergei Gonchar and Maxime Talbot, who had surgery during the off-season, would both likely return on November 19.
In late December through January 1, rosters for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver were announced, and five Penguins were selected. Malkin and Gonchar were selected to play for Russia, Sidney Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury for Canada and Brooks Orpik for the United States.
The Penguins concluded the first half of their season with their 41st game on December 30 against the New Jersey Devils. Through the first 41 games, the Penguins earned a 26–14–1 record. While the Penguins won five straight in the middle of the month, they ending losing three in a row, and four of their last five, including shutouts of 0–2 and 0–4 to the Devils. The 0–4 shutout earned Devils' goalie Martin Brodeur his 104th career shutout and the NHL record.
Second half: January to April The Penguins began the second half of their season with their 42nd game on January 2 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Penguins went on to lose both of their first two games of the second half of the season with the second coming against the Florida Panthers. The Penguins then returned home for a two-game home stand in which they split by first defeating the Atlanta Thrashers and then losing in a high scoring 7–4 contest to the Philadelphia Flyers. After the home stand, the Penguins embarked on a five-game road trip of Canada and Minnesota, in which they finished the trip with a decent 3–2 record with wins coming against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers. They battled with a struggling New Jersey Devils team for the Atlantic Division title, but ultimately fell short due in large part to having lost all six divisional games against the Devils. The Penguins had a 21–14–6 record in the second half of the season, placing them in fourth place in the Eastern Conference (despite having the third-best points total). It would be the third time in four years that the Penguins had over 100 points in a season (having missed out by a single point the previous year) and the fourth-straight year with 45 wins or more.
Game log
|- style="background:#cfc;" | 1 || 2 || 7:30 PM || New York Rangers || 2–3 || Pittsburgh Penguins || Mellon Arena (17,132) || 1–0–0 || 2 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 2 || 3 || 7:00 PM || Pittsburgh Penguins || 4–3 SO || New York Islanders || Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (16,234) || 2–0–0 || 4 |- style="background:#fcf;" | 3 || 7 || 7:30 PM || Phoenix Coyotes || 3–0 || Pittsburgh Penguins || Mellon Arena (16,975) || 2–1–0 || 4 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 4 || 8 || 7:00 PM || Pittsburgh Penguins || 5–4 || Philadelphia Flyers || Wells Fargo Center (19,611) || 3–1–0 || 6 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 5 || 10 || 7:00 PM || Pittsburgh Penguins || 5–2 || Toronto Maple Leafs || Air Canada Centre (19,374) || 4–1–0 || 8 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 6 || 12 || 7:30 PM || Pittsburgh Penguins || 4–1 || Ottawa Senators || Scotiabank Place (17,014) || 5–1–0 || 10 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 7 || 14 || 7:00 PM || Pittsburgh Penguins || 3–2 SO || Carolina Hurricanes || RBC Center (14,053) || 6–1–0 || 12 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 8 || 17 || 7:30 PM || Tampa Bay Lightning || 1–4 || Pittsburgh Penguins || Mellon Arena (17,132) || 7–1–0 || 14 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 9 || 20 || 7:00 PM || St. Louis Blues || 1–5 || Pittsburgh Penguins || Mellon Arena (17,132) || 8–1–0 || 16 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 10 || 23 || 7:30 PM || Florida Panthers || 2–3 SO || Pittsburgh Penguins || Mellon Arena (16,971) || 9–1–0 || 18 |- style="background:#fcf;" | 11 || 24 || 7:30 PM || New Jersey Devils || 4–1 || Pittsburgh Penguins || Mellon Arena (17,132) || 9–2–0 || 18 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 12 || 28 || 7:30 PM || Montreal Canadiens || 1–6 || Pittsburgh Penguins || Mellon Arena (16,965) || 10–2–0 || 20 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 13 || 30 || 7:00 PM || Pittsburgh Penguins || 4–3 SO || Columbus Blue Jackets || Nationwide Arena (19,136) || 11–2–0 || 22 |- style="background:#fcf;" | 14 || 31 || 7:30 PM || Minnesota Wild || 2–1 || Pittsburgh Penguins || Mellon Arena (16,960) || 11–3–0 || 22
|- style="background:#cfc;" | 15 || 3 || 10:00 PM || Pittsburgh Penguins || 4–3 || Anaheim Ducks || Honda Center (16,128) || 12–3–0 || 24 |- style="background:#fcf;" | 16 || 5 || 10:30 PM || Pittsburgh Penguins || 2–5 || Los Angeles Kings || Staples Center (18,118) || 12–4–0 || 24 |- style="background:#fcf;" | 17 || 7 || 10:30 PM || Pittsburgh Penguins || 0–5 || San Jose Sharks || HP Pavilion at San Jose (17,562) || 12–5–0 || 24 |- style="background:#fcf;" | 18 || 10 || 7:00 PM || Pittsburgh Penguins || 0–3 || Boston Bruins || TD Garden (17,565) || 12–6–0 || 24 |- style="background:#fcf;" | 19 || 12 || 7:30 PM || New Jersey Devils || 4–1 || Pittsburgh Penguins || Mellon Arena (17,005) || 12–7–0 || 24 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 20 || 14 || 7:30 PM || Boston Bruins || 5–6 OT || Pittsburgh Penguins || Mellon Arena (17,132) || 13–7–0 || 26 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 21 || 16 || 7:30 PM || Anaheim Ducks || 2–5 || Pittsburgh Penguins || Mellon Arena (17,052) || 14–7–0 || 28 |- style="background:#fcf;" | 22 || 19 || 7:30 PM || Pittsburgh Penguins || 2–6 || Ottawa Senators || Scotiabank Place (17,039) || 14–8–0 || 28 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 23 || 21 || 7:00 PM || Pittsburgh Penguins || 3–2 || Atlanta Thrashers || Philips Arena (17,588) || 15–8–0 || 30 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 24 || 23 || 7:30 PM || Pittsburgh Penguins || 3–2 OT || Florida Panthers || BankAtlantic Center (17,024) || 16–8–0 || 32 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 25 || 25 || 7:30 PM || Montreal Canadiens || 1–3 || Pittsburgh Penguins || Mellon Arena (17,094) || 17–8–0 || 34 |- style="background:#fcf;" | 26 || 27 || 2:00 PM || Pittsburgh Penguins || 2–3 || New York Islanders || Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (15,262) || 17–9–0 || 34 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 27 || 28 || 7:30 PM || New York Rangers || 3–8 || Pittsburgh Penguins || Mellon Arena (17,122) || 18–9–0 || 36 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 28 || 30 || 7:00 PM || Pittsburgh Penguins || 5–2 || New York Rangers || Madison Square Garden (IV) (18,200) || 19–9–0 || 38
|- style="background:#cfc;" | 29 || 3 || 7:30 PM || Colorado Avalanche || 1–4 || Pittsburgh Penguins || Mellon Arena (16,968) || 20–9–0 || 40 |- style="background:#ffc;" | 30 || 5 || 7:30 PM || Chicago Blackhawks || 2–1 OT || Pittsburgh Penguins || Mellon Arena (17,132) || 20–9–1 || 41 |- style="background:#fcf;" | 31 || 7 || 7:30 PM || Carolina Hurricanes || 3–2 || Pittsburgh Penguins || Mellon Arena (16,964) || 20–10–1 || 41 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 32 || 10 || 7:30 PM || Pittsburgh Penguins || 3–2 || Montreal Canadiens || Bell Centre (21,273) || 21–10–1 || 43 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 33 || 12 || 7:30 PM || Florida Panthers || 2–3 OT || Pittsburgh Penguins || Mellon Arena (16,977) || 22–10–1 || 45 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 34 || 15 || 7:00 PM || Philadelphia Flyers || 1–6 || Pittsburgh Penguins || Mellon Arena (17,086) || 23–10–1 || 47 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 35 || 17 || 7:00 PM || Pittsburgh Penguins || 3–2 SO || Philadelphia Flyers || Wachovia Center (19,689) || 24–10–1 || 49 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 36 || 19 || 7:00 PM || Pittsburgh Penguins || 2–1 SO || Buffalo Sabres || HSBC Arena (18,690) || 25–10–1 || 51 |- style="background:#fcf;" | 37 || 21 || 7:30 PM || New Jersey Devils || 4–0 || Pittsburgh Penguins || Mellon Arena (17,132) || 25–11–1 || 51 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 38 || 23 || 7:00 PM || Ottawa Senators || 2–8 || Pittsburgh Penguins || Mellon Arena (17,132) || 26–11–1 || 53 |- style="background:#fcf;" | 39 || 27 || 7:00 PM || Toronto Maple Leafs || 4–3 || Pittsburgh Penguins || Mellon Arena (17,132) || 26–12–1 || 53 |- style="background:#fcf;" | 40 || 29 || 7:00 PM || Pittsburgh Penguins || 3–4 || Buffalo Sabres || HSBC Arena (18,690) || 26–13–1 || 53 |- style="background:#fcf;"