According to goalie records at NHL.com, 70 goalies have dressed for a game with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
One of those netminders who maintains the fifth-best save percentage in team history (minimum of one game)? Ron Tugnutt.
Tugnutt is not really forgotten because he is a central figure in NHL playoff history and a memorable skater in the rivalry between the Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers.
Those old enough to stay up on the night of May 4, 2000, will remember Tugnutt was in goal for Pittsburgh in the longest playoff game of the modern era, which went five overtimes and ended on a Keith Primeau goal.
The two teams played 60 minutes of hockey before engaging in 92:01 of overtime, which became the third-longest game in NHL history.
During the contest, Tugnutt made 70 saves on 72 shots to set the franchise record for stops in a single game, both regular season and playoffs.
In the longest playoff run of his career, the Scarborough, ON native posted a .945 save percentage (SV%), which is also a franchise best. He gave up just 22 goals in those contests, making 376 saves on 398 shots with two shutouts.
Overall, Tugnutt played 18 games with the Penguins in 1999-2000.
During the regular season, he was 4-2-0 with a .924 SV% and 2.40 GAA with no shutouts. He came to Pittsburgh on Mar. 14, 2000, with Janne Laukkanen in a trade from the Ottawa Senators for two-time Stanley Cup winner Tom Barrasso.
Tugnutt’s stay with the Penguins ended on July 4, when he signed with the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets. In 16 seasons, he played for eight clubs and earned a 186-239-62 record.
Outside of his claim to fame for being in the longest game of the modern era, Tugnutt also owns the NHL record for most saves in a non-loss, once again making 70 stops of 73 shots in a 3-3 tie with the Boston Bruins on Mar. 21, 1991.
In 537 regular season games, his career SV% was .895, but in just 25 playoff games, he was 9-13 with a .919 SV%.
As a fourth-round pick who debuted at 20, Tugnutt found himself tied to many historic moments in NHL history. Surprisingly, one of those moments came in a Penguins sweater, a place he called home for roughly four months.
