Pat Boutette's first hat trick nets Pens first win

Pat Boutette

Pat Boutette broke in with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1975 and after four seasons was traded to Hartford. It was with the Whalers that the classy forward began making his mark as a highly dependable, if not somewhat under-the-radar, point-getter.

Boutette averaged nearly a point a game in a season and a half for the Whale. In the summer of 1981 he went to Pittsburgh with Kevin McClelland as compensation for the Whalers' signing of goalie Greg Millen.

He didn't miss a beat after joining the Penguins, scoring 74 points in 1981-82 and adding a goal and three assists in the Pens' thrilling five-game near upset of the Islanders in the first round of the playoffs. 

Boutette then suffered through the two leanest seasons in Penguins history as the team tumbled to the bottom of the NHL standings in 1983 and 1984. There were still some shining moments for Boutette, however, including his first career hat trick on October 12, 1982. 

With the Pens trailing the Vancouver Canucks by a goal with less than two minutes to play, Doug Shedden tied it with a slap shot. With the crowd of 6,566 going delirious, the Penguins kept coming. With 1:04 left, Boutette, who had scored two goals in the second period, deflected a Greg Hotham slap shot past goalie Richard Brodeur. He had his first hat trick and the Penguins had their first win of the season.

Early in the 1984-85 season, with his production tailing off, the Pens dealt Boutette back to Hartford for the rights to defenseman Ville Siren, who became a regular on the Pittsburgh blue line in the 80s. Unlike the Leafs, the Pens seemed to know when to part ways with Boutette; he had but 33 games left in him with the Whalers and a few more with their farm team before calling it a career.