The Pittsburgh Penguins returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2021-22. They scored 288 goals - third in the NHL. They came back from three games down to force a Game 6 against a younger, faster Philadelphia Flyers team. They lost in overtime. And now they face the question that three consecutive missed playoffs and one first-round exit have been building toward: what comes next for Sidney Crosby and this franchise?
By Mike Holloway · May 2026 · 2025–26 Season Review Series · Playoff Teams
Summer 2025 · Sullivan Out, Muse In
Mike Sullivan fired after three straight missed playoffs. Dan Muse hired as the new voice. The Cup-winning coach replaced by a first-time NHL head coach with one mandate: unlock the offence that the roster's individual talent kept insisting was still there.
Oct–Feb · A Legitimate Contender
288 goals for (3rd in the NHL). Anthony Mantha 33 goals on a one-year deal. Bryan Rust career year. Erik Karlsson 51 assists. A new identity built around the same ageing core.
Apr 9 · Clinched vs New Jersey
5-2 win over the New Jersey Devils. First playoff appearance since 2021-22. PPG Paints Arena electric. The four-year absence ended.
R1 vs PHI · 0-3 → 2-3 → G6 OT
Nearly the greatest comeback in franchise playoff history. Lost Game 6 in overtime in Philadelphia. The season ended one game short of forcing a Game 7. The summer that follows is the most consequential in fifteen years.
From 243 Goals For in 2024-25 to 288 in 2025-26. The Same Players. A Different System.
The Pittsburgh Penguins clinched a playoff spot on April 9, 2026, with a 5-2 win over the New Jersey Devils. It was their first postseason appearance since the 2021-22 season - a four-year absence that included three consecutive missed playoffs and the firing of Mike Sullivan, who had coached the franchise to back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. The return to April hockey was genuine and earned: 41 wins, 98 points, 288 goals for (third in the NHL), and a roster that had been fundamentally reshaped around a core that is ageing but unambiguously still competitive. The celebration was real. The questions that came with it were also real. They had been accumulating for four years, and they were not going to wait any longer.
They faced the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round - their interstate rival, a younger team built differently, a franchise in its own transitional moment but with the energy and depth that characterises teams operating below expectation pressure. The Flyers won the first three games. The Penguins won the next two. They lost Game 6 in overtime. The series was the most honest possible summary of where both franchises are: Pittsburgh producing more individual brilliance from its ageing core, Philadelphia winning the series with youth, speed, and depth. The Flyers went on to be swept by Carolina in Round 2. Pittsburgh went home having nearly completed one of the most dramatic first-round comebacks in recent NHL history. Nearly.
The 45-Goal Swing That Defined the Return
2024-25 - The Year of Sullivan's Last Stand: 243 goals for, 80 points, 13th in the East, no playoffs. The third consecutive April without postseason hockey at PPG Paints Arena.
2025-26 - The Muse Year One Reset: 288 goals for (3rd in the NHL). 98 points. 24.1% power play (7th in the NHL). Karlsson 51 assists. Mantha 33 goals on a one-year deal. Ryan Shea +27. Playoffs reached.
The improvement from 243 to 288 goals for - 45 more goals over the same roster with a new head coach - is the single most important data point of the Pittsburgh season. Dan Muse, taking over from Sullivan, gave the offence a structure that unlocked what the individual pieces could produce. Crosby, Malkin, and Karlsson were the same players in October 2025 that they were in October 2024. The results were completely different. The Muse hire is the most consequential single offseason decision Kyle Dubas made, and the 45-goal improvement is the return on it.
Sidney Crosby Is 38. Evgeni Malkin Is 39. Kris Letang Is 38. They Made the Playoffs This Year on the Third-Best Offence in the NHL. The Next Crosby Contract Negotiation Is the Most Important in the Franchise's History Since He Signed His First.
The 2025-26 Pittsburgh Penguins scored 288 goals and won 98 points. They did it with Crosby as the team's points leader at 74, Malkin contributing 42 assists despite a mid-season suspension, and Letang still playing meaningful minutes at 38. The window that produced back-to-back Cups in 2016 and 2017 is still partially open. The 0-3 comeback in the series against Philadelphia demonstrated that the team still has the individual talent and the competitive character to do something no first-round loser is supposed to be able to do.
But the questions are unavoidable. Crosby's 74 points - down from 91 in 2024-25 - is the production of a franchise centre operating at his third or fourth gear, not his peak. Malkin's contributions were meaningful but interrupted by a suspension for a slash toward the head area of Rasmus Dahlin - the kind of penalty that at 39 carries a longer suspension than at 29. Letang played fewer minutes per night than in any of the previous three seasons and struggled defensively. The ageing of the three central pillars of this franchise is not a projection - it is happening in real time in the statistics and in the medical reports.
The Crosby contract negotiation is the summer's defining event for the franchise. He will be 39 at the start of 2026-27. A one-year deal acknowledges the reality of the age; a two-year deal makes a genuine bet on his continued elite production. The Penguins cannot plan any other aspect of their roster construction without knowing his answer. The Malkin question is secondary to this one but no less consequential. The franchise that spent fifteen years building around Crosby and Malkin must now negotiate with both of them about what the end looks like and when it comes. That conversation happens this summer.
Philadelphia def. Pittsburgh 4-2 - From 0-3 to 2-3, Then OT in Game 6
Game 1 · PHI wins - Crosby visibly frustrated · takes a penalty ripping his helmet · Malkin scores early but not enough.
Game 2 · PHI wins - The Flyers' youth and speed becoming clear · Penguins offence not converting.
Game 3 · PHI wins - 0-3 down · the series looks finished · Muse makes lineup changes.
Game 4 · PIT wins ★ - The comeback begins · PPG Paints Arena ignites · 3-1 series.
Game 5 · PIT wins ★ - 3-2 series · Crosby and Rust find their form · one game from forcing G7.
Game 6 · PHI wins OT - Season ends in overtime in Philadelphia · 4-2 final · the comeback falls one game short.
The series will be remembered for what it almost was. No team in NHL history has ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit to win in the first round. Pittsburgh won Games 4 and 5 to make it 3-2, joining the very short list of teams in modern NHL history to pull within one game of completing that comeback - without ever completing it. The star forwards' playoff production: Crosby (0 goals, 1 assist across the series), Karlsson (0 goals, 1 assist), Mantha (0 goals, 1 assist). The offence that produced 288 regular-season goals went dark against a Philadelphia team that played with the defensive urgency of a group that knew exactly how dangerous the opponent was.
2025–26 Individual Season Grades - Regular Season + Playoffs Combined
74 pts (29G–45A) · led team in points · 0 goals in 6 playoff games · 38 years old
Seventy-four regular-season points from a 38-year-old franchise captain who has led this team for twenty years is not a failure - it is one of the more remarkable individual consistency stories in hockey. The grade is limited by the playoff performance (0 goals, 1 assist in 6 games, visibly frustrated in Game 1) and by the decline from 91 points the prior season. He is not done. He is diminishing. The honest assessment of Sidney Crosby in 2025-26 requires acknowledging both of those things simultaneously.
65 pts · 29G · 24 PPP (2nd on team) · +/-: from −21 to even · career consistency at 34
The most reliable individual contributor on the roster in 2025-26 by the full body of evidence. His defensive improvement - from minus-21 to an even plus-minus - is as significant as his offensive production, and the combination of 29 goals, 65 points, and a complete two-way game at 34 years old places him in a conversation about career-best seasons. He was the player Crosby leaned on most when the primary partnership with Malkin was disrupted by suspension and age. The B-plus reflects what he actually did, independent of what the names around him were producing.
66 pts (51A) · 909 career pts · on pace for 1,000 in 2027-28 · 0 goals, 1A in playoffs
His 51 assists led the team and produced the league's seventh-best power play at 24.1%. He passed multiple career milestone markers in assists from the blue line and is tracking toward 1,000 career points in the 2027-28 season if healthy. His defensive limitations remain the same as they have been for a decade - teams attack him in his own zone and succeed - but his offensive activation remains elite. The playoff disappearance (0 goals, 1 assist in 6 games) is the deduction that prevents a higher grade. The team's power play was neutralised partly because of how aggressively Philadelphia defended Karlsson's shooting lanes.
33G · 64 pts in 81 games · one-year deal · healthiest full season of his career
On a one-year deal, Mantha produced his healthiest and most productive full season. Thirty-three goals and 64 points in 81 games is the performance that validates every argument made about his talent level over a career that has been repeatedly interrupted by injury. The grade is for the regular season, which was excellent. The playoff output (0 goals, 1 assist in 6 games) parallels the franchise's collective stars, and the UFA question this summer - whether Pittsburgh can retain him and at what cost - is the most straightforward individual roster decision of the offseason.
42A in regular season · mid-season suspension (slash to Dahlin) · both Malkin and Crosby injured same week
A mid-season moment produced the lowest point of the individual season: a suspension for a slash toward the head area of Rasmus Dahlin that was described as "particularly egregious" and removed Malkin from the lineup at the same time as Crosby's lower-body injury, giving the team a week-plus with neither franchise centre available. His 42 assists across the season are the output of a player still capable of first-line production at 39. The playoff contribution (limited) and the suspension are the deductions. The positive: he played meaningful hockey at 39 alongside the most important player in franchise history, and the team was better for his presence.
+27 (team leader) · breakout defensive season · the franchise's most hopeful future blue-line piece
The most important development story on the Pittsburgh roster that doesn't involve a Hall of Fame player. Shea's +27 led the team in plus-minus - the best result for any Pittsburgh defenceman in several seasons. On a team where Karlsson's defensive limitations are well-documented and Letang is in decline, Shea's emergence as a credible two-way defenceman gives the blue line a competitive piece for the seasons when the transition away from the current era is complete. He is the bridge between this team and the next one.
Inherited 80-pt team · delivered 98-pt playoff team · 45-goal offensive improvement · 0-3 to 2-3 in R1
The 45-goal offensive improvement in Year One is the most persuasive case for Muse's impact. He inherited the same players who scored 243 goals in 2024-25 and produced 288 in 2025-26 with a restructured system. The playoff run - including the 0-3 to 2-3 comeback - showed a team that competed past the point where most teams stop competing. His first year produced exactly what Kyle Dubas hired him to produce: a return to the playoffs and a competitive identity. Year Two will require answers to harder questions than Year One did.
34 pts (3G–31A) in 74 GP · fewest minutes per game in 3+ seasons · defensive struggles
Letang's 34 points were a modest improvement from the prior year's 31, but the context is reduced ice time and visible defensive decline. He is 38 and has played through significant injury in recent seasons. His value to this team in 2026-27 is the question that connects directly to the Crosby and Malkin contract conversations - if both stars re-sign, Letang's continued presence makes the veteran core even older. If one or both depart, the roster rebuild begins, and Letang's role in that rebuild is smaller than his legacy suggests it should be.
| Player | POS | GP | G | A | PTS | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sidney Crosby | C | ~79 | 29 | 45 | 74 | Led team pts · 0 goals in R1 · lower-body injury mid-season |
| Bryan Rust | RW | ~80 | 29 | 36 | 65 | Career-high pts · +/- from −21 to even · 24 PPP · age 34 |
| Erik Karlsson | D | ~75 | 15 | 51 | 66 | 909 career pts · tracking to 1,000 in 2027-28 · 24 PPP |
| Anthony Mantha | LW | 81 | 33 | 31 | 64 | One-year deal · healthiest full season · UFA this summer |
| Evgeni Malkin | C | ~70 | - | 42 | ~55 | Suspended mid-season · 39 years old · Crosby also hurt same stretch |
| Kris Letang | D | 74 | 3 | 31 | 34 | Fewest min/game in 3+ seasons · defensive decline continuing |
| Ryan Shea | D | ~75 | - | - | +27 | Team plus/minus leader · breakout defensive season |
| Sergei Murashov | G | ~22 | - | - | 2.56 | Best team GAA · developing behind Stuart Skinner (23W) |
“These Oilers desperately need depth behind McDavid and Draisaitl. The 2025-26 Oilers look downright unbalanced compared to the teams that went to the Stanley Cup Final. Meanwhile, the Penguins aren't playing up to their standard - but they weren't going away.”
— Bleacher Report, Game 1 preview - identifying the competitive instinct that nearly produced the impossible comeback in Games 4 and 5
The summer ahead is the most consequential in Pittsburgh since Kyle Dubas was hired to restructure a franchise that had just missed the playoffs for the first time in seventeen years. Then, the question was how to reshape a team around Crosby and Malkin that had aged past its competitive peak. Now, the question is similar but more urgent: the peak is further behind them, the window is narrower, and the decisions about Crosby's next contract, Malkin's role, and the roster construction around them cannot wait another year. They have already waited three.
The 0-3 to 2-3 comeback against Philadelphia is the argument for one more push. The 0 goals from Crosby in six playoff games is the argument against. Dubas's job is to hold both arguments in mind simultaneously and make decisions that are honest about what this team is, not what it was when it won consecutive Cups with the same captain and the same co-star. The 98-point season is the evidence that the team is still real. The Game 6 overtime loss to the Flyers is the evidence that real is not the same as good enough.
Browse the full set at Season Reviews. Previous in series: #13 Boston Bruins.
Season Review Verdict
Three years out. 98 points. Third in the NHL in goals. 0-3 down to a younger team, won G4, won G5, lost G6 OT. And a summer that asks the question the franchise has been avoiding for four years.
The B-minus is the highest grade a first-round exit on a 98-point team can earn. Pittsburgh produced the third-best offence in the NHL on the back of the Muse hire and a 45-goal swing over the same roster. They returned to the playoffs after a four-year absence. They nearly completed a comeback no team has ever completed. The regular season was a genuine success.
The ceiling is set by the playoff offence. Zero goals from Crosby, zero from Karlsson, zero from Mantha across six games against Philadelphia is the specific failure a deeper team would not have produced. The 0-3 hole that required the comeback was avoidable. The Game 6 overtime loss was not bad luck - it was the natural endpoint of a team whose star forwards stopped scoring when the games mattered most.
Crosby is 38. Malkin is 39. Letang is 38. The contract negotiations this summer are the most important in the franchise's history since Crosby signed his first. The 2025-26 season was the year Pittsburgh proved they could still make the playoffs with this core. The next twelve months will determine whether the core stays, in what form, and for how long. The window is open. It is narrower than it was a year ago. It will be narrower still a year from now.