Who wore it best: No. 40, Frank Pietrangelo taken at Highmark Stadium (Penguins)

Welcome to our series on who wore each number best for the Penguins.

The idea is being openly borrowed from our new hockey writer, Cody Tucker, and his project at the Lansing State Journal covering all the uniform numbers worn through Michigan State football history, one that’s been well received by their readers and prompted heavy discussion and debate.

Under my organization, and following the voting of a big chunk of our staff, we’ll publish one new one each day until completion, which should be right around the start of training camp.

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Name: Frank Pietrangelo

Number: 40

Position: Goaltender

Born: December 17, 1964, in Niagara Falls, Ontario

Seasons with Penguins: 1987-91

Statistics with Penguins: 87 games, 34 wins, .873 save percentage, 4.13 goals against average in regular season; five games four wins, 3.13 goals against average in playoffs

Frank Pietrangelo, Bryan Trottier, Paul Coffey, and Mario Lemieux watch the first Stanley Cup banner go into the Civic Arena rafters. -- INTHECREASE.CO

WHY PIETRANGELO?

Frank Pietrangelo's career with the Penguins spanned four seasons, and he would have won No. 40 based on his amount of time in the organization alone.

Pietrangelo made a total of 2,273 saves during his time in Pittsburgh. One of them -- "The Save" -- is one of the greatest moments in Penguins lore.

The date was April 13, 1991. It was Game 6 of the Patrick Division semifinals in New Jersey, and the Penguins trailed the Devils 3-2 in the series. It was a must-win game for the Penguins, and starting goaltender Tom Barrasso was sidelined with an injury. The team turned to 26-year-old Pietrangelo, who was playing in the first playoff game of his career.

John MacLean got the Devils off to a 1-0 lead only 3:29 into the game. Kevin Stevens scored twice in under three minutes, and the Penguins were clinging to a 2-1 lead late in the first period. The Devils were a man up on the power play. Viacheslav Fetisov took a shot from the point, and Pietrangelo made the initial save. Peter Stastny picked up the rebound, and had a wide open net directly in front of him.

Pietrangelo robbed Stastny with an impossible glove save.

Jaromir Jagr increased the Penguins lead with 23 seconds remaining in the first period, and Ron Francis opened the scoring in the second. The Devils attempted a comeback with goals from Eric Weinrich and Claude Lemieux, but the Penguins held New Jersey off the scoresheet in the third period and took Game 6, 4-3.

Two days later at the Civic Arena, Pietrangelo was again in net for Game 7. With a 27-save shutout, Pietrangelo and the Penguins finished off the Devils and advanced to the Patrick Division finals. It was the second-ever playoff shutout by a Penguins goaltender in franchise history, the first since Michel Plasse did it in 1976.

The Penguins went on to eliminate Washington in five games, then Boston in six games to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time. The Penguins defeated the North Stars in six games to take home their first Stanley Cup.

Pietrangelo played five regular season games in 1991-92 before being traded to the Hartford Whalers in exchange for Hartford's 3rd (Sven Butenschon) and 7th (Serge Aubin) round picks in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft.

WHAT'S HE DOING NOW?

Pietrangelo, 53, retired from professional hockey in 2000 after playing three seasons with the Manchester Storm of the British Ice Hockey Superleague.

Pietrangelo coached prep school and midget hockey from 2008-11. In 2011 he was named assistant coach of his former junior team, the Niagara Falls Canucks of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, a Junior B developmental league. He purchased the team in 2014, and has been the owner, president, and head coach ever since. He was named GOJHL coach of the year in 2016-17.

Pietrangelo's daughter, Paige, played defense for Robert Morris from 2008-12, and was the team's captain her senior year. His son, Dylan, also a goaltender, played four years for his father's team then played one season of Division III hockey at the University of Southern Maine. Dylan is currently the goaltending coach for the Niagara Falls Canucks.

The Blues' Alex Pietrangelo is Frank's cousin's son.

IT WAS SPOKEN

“Obviously it’s great to be a part of some Penguins history and part of the Penguins culture, part of the Stanley Cup run. Whenever I come back to Pittsburgh people always remind me of it. It’s always nice to hear, believe me.” -- Pietrangelo on "The Save" in 2008

"Have I ever made a better save? Certainly not one that was more important, that's for sure. Just the whole situation of a Game 6 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, my first postseason game, the injuries … As far as being a great save, well, as goalies we make saves like this. We always say the forwards are dumb. Just put any part of your body out in front of the net and something will hit it. Sure enough, Peter put it right in my glove. I never had the opportunity to thank him for it, but he's given me something to remember my hockey career by." -- Pietrangelo on "The Save" in 2017

HONORABLE MENTIONS AT NO. 40

Patrick Lalime

Andy Chiodo

ANY DEBATE?

Nope. Oskar Sundqvist is the only other player to wear No. 40 in multiple seasons, and he didn't play many games in Pittsburgh. Chiodo only played in eight games, but his first career win in 2004 ended a 18-game losing streak -- the longest in Penguins history, and the second-longest in league history. That's definitely worth an honorable mention.

Tomorrow: I have No. 41

Yesterday: David Perron

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