Crosby has to find some of his old magic to pull the Penguins off the mat in order to avoid disaster
By Austin Nivison Apr 21, 2026 at 5:37 pm ET • 4 min read 
Getty Images The Pittsburgh Penguins face a 2-0 series deficit against the Philadelphia Flyers -- and the hole feels a lot deeper than that based on how the first two games went. As the series shifts to Philadelphia, the Penguins will need Sidney Crosby to pull them off the ropes and back into the fight.
Following Tuesday Monday night's 3-0 loss at PPG Paints Arena, Crosby didn't show any signs of panic, which is to be expected from the three-time Stanley Cup champion.
"We just gotta focus on the next one," Crosby said. "Win or lose, that's always the approach. Given the fact that we lost two here, we gotta find a way to get Game 3 and get some momentum back."
The thing about the "next one" is that there are only so many in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Unless the Penguins go 4-1 or better over their next five games, they'll be eliminated from the postseason.
Historically, teams that have fallen behind 2-0 in a seven-game series have come back to win just 13.9% of the time. That pushes Game 3 into must-win territory for Pittsburgh, but the level of difficulty will only be higher in a hostile environment.
Through the first two games, the veteran Penguins have looked old, slow and toothless -- especially on offense. The Flyers have looked younger, faster and hungrier. Pittsburgh scored just two goals on home ice, and it rarely tested Philadelphia goaltender Dan Vladar with a dangerous scoring chance.
"No, just playoff hockey," Crosby said about Philadelphia's defense. "It's tight-checking, and we gotta find a way to generate or produce or whatever you want to call it."
Crosby and the Penguins have to start producing quickly, or this will be the last gasp for the legendary core consisting of Crosby, Evgeni Makin and Kris Letang.
Pitiful Penguins
The Flyers deserve a lot of credit for making life very difficult for their in-state rivals. Philadelphia has clogged up the neutral zone and built a wall at its own blue line. On the other side of that coin, Pittsburgh deserves a lot of blame for continuing to ram headfirst into that wall.
The Penguins love to enter the offensive zone with possession and filter passes into the slot to create high-danger shots from the slot. Who doesn't? However, the Flyers are determined to eliminate those easy zone entries, and that has been a huge source of frustration for the Pens.
Because it hasn't been able to get any sort of chip-and-chase or forecheck game going, Pittsburgh's offense has generated next to nothing through two games. The Penguins are averaging just 2.39 expected goals per game, and they had a whopping eight high-danger scoring chances through the first five periods of the series, per Natural Stat Trick.
Compounding the Penguins' offensive woes is the fact that the power play, which was supposed to be a clear advantage for them, has gone 0-for-7 while surrendering a humiliating shorthanded goal in Game 2.
The PK EARNED this one. #PHIvsPIT | #IgniteTheOrange pic.twitter.com/5SWA6XYo9v
— x - Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) April 21, 2026
The Penguins were one of the NHL's best offensive teams in the regular season. Their 290 goals ranked third behind the Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes, and their 283.6 expected goals ranked seventh, per Natural Stat Trick.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs are a different animal, however, and Pittsburgh's veteran core is starting to look its age. The Penguins still have a trump card in Crosby -- the best player in this series and a career Flyers killer -- and they need him in the worst way over the next two games.
Can Crosby turn back the clock?
Crosby may be 38 years old, but he still has some jet fuel left in the tank. After returning from the knee injury that cut his Olympic run short, Crosby notched 15 points in his final 12 games, and he ended the regular season with 29 goals and 74 points.
The underlying metrics weren't perfect, but they were still quite strong. Crosby posted a 51.8% expected goals share and a plus-11 goal differential at five-on-five while playing tough minutes against elite competition,
What makes this slow postseason start for Crosby even more perplexing is the fact that he typically feasts on the Flyers. In 93 regular-season games against Philadelphia, Crosby has 60 goals and 79 assists. Entering this series, Crosby had 15 goals and 21 assists in 23 playoff games against the Flyers.
Through two games in this series, Crosby has been held off the scoresheet entirely and limited to seven shots on goal and one high-danger scoring chance.
Crosby has three Stanley Cup rings and two Conn Smythe trophies to his name. His 201 playoff points are tied with Jaromir Jagr for fifth all-time, and nine of those are game-winning goals. Crosby will need to find something resembling that level again if the Penguins are going to get off the mat.
"I think we've been in some tough spots all year," Crosby said about the challenge of facing a 2-0 deficit. "We've responded really well to adversity. It's brought out the best in all of us. Getting on the road in a situation like this will bring out the best in us again here."
If it brings out the best in Crosby, this series is far from over. If it doesn't, this will be the end of an era for Penguins hockey.
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