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PHILADELPHIA \u2014 A few minutes after the Pittsburgh Penguins\u2019 feel-good season ended at the hands of their most hated rival, Sidney Crosby sat alone in the locker room. A moment earlier, the captain had been surrounded by teammates Bryan Rust and Erik Karlsson, who discussed a missed opportunity on a play in overtime.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ll have plenty of those to discuss in time. For now, it was just Crosby alone in his thoughts, a few months from turning 39, another season in his storied career through and more uncertainty to come this summer.<\/p>\n
The Penguins fell to the Philadelphia Flyers, 1-0, in an overtime classic on Wednesday night, dashing their hopes of winning a third straight game to force the first-round series to a deciding seventh game.<\/p>\n
Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar finally out-dueled Art\u016brs \u0160ilovs in a game that neither organization will forget anytime soon.<\/p>\n
This sting of this loss will hurt for a while, and for so many reasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll game, we were probably the better team,\u201d Karlsson said. \u201cThey had some chances. Credit to them. They bent, but they didn\u2019t break. We did everything we could to make them break, but we couldn\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
That is the story of this series.<\/p>\n
Through 77 minutes and 32 agonizing seconds in Game 6, the Penguins couldn\u2019t score. In the six games, totaling 377:32, the Penguins scored only 11 goals, one of which was an empty-netter. They entered the season as the NHL\u2019s third-highest-scoring team, averaging 3.57 goals per game. In six games against the Flyers, they averaged 1.83 goals per game.<\/p>\n
Why?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe big one (reason) is that we didn\u2019t really get to the net at all,\u201d defenseman Ryan Shea said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we were in a 3-0 hole. That\u2019s a big part of it. We have some big guys that scored a lot of goals around the net during the season. Playing hockey is about defense, but it\u2019s also about getting to the gritty areas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ironically enough, the game-winning goal off of Flyers defenseman Cam York\u2019s stick was a harmless-looking shot from the point that had eyes. The Flyers were in front of the net, making it difficult for \u0160ilovs to see the puck.<\/p>\n
Karlsson wasn\u2019t as blunt as Shea, but he suggested something similar when asked why the Penguins couldn\u2019t score in this series.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a good question,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t really know. The hockey is a little bit different this time of the year. Guys lay their bodies on the line every shift this time of year, make sure they\u2019re on the right side of the puck. Goals are probably scored in a different kind of way this time of the year. Maybe that had something to do with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the series went on, the Penguins slowly started to solve Philadelphia\u2019s trap, which is to say, they finally got over their stubbornness and settled for dumping pucks deep. Their zone time in Game 6 was illustrative. Until overtime, however, they really never generated all that many Grade-A looks. They were never able to solve Philadelphia\u2019s last line of defense. And when they did, Vladar was there to slam the door.<\/p>\n
The Penguins\u2019 big names were largely held in check:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Crosby had five points in the series but only one goal.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Evgeni Malkin had three points in the first three games of the series, but none in the final three.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Rickard Rakell scored one goal.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Rust scored one goal.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Karlsson scored one goal.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Anthony Mantha and Egor Chinakhov, the team\u2019s two leading goal scorers since Jan. 1, were held without a goal in the series.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe amount of Grade A\u2019s we had in overtime was way more than we had in the first three periods combined,\u201d Shea said. \u201cSometimes that\u2019s how it works. That gave us a lot in OT. We just couldn\u2019t slam the door. Then they get a seeing-eye shot to go in.\u201d<\/p>\n
For one last time in the 2025-26 season, here are my observations:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Tommy Novak had a glorious chance to score in the third period when the puck bounced to him in front of Vladar. Instead of shooting, he passed back into a crowd.<\/p>\n
I asked him why he didn\u2019t shoot.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like (Vladar) was on top of me,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, I just looked back door. Thought I had Chinny (Chinakhov). If I could reverse time and do it over again, it would be an easy decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 Ben Kindel probably had his best game of the series, nearly winning it in overtime. He was a presence all night.<\/p>\n
However, the 19-year-old rookie was guilty of an icing infraction that brought the faceoff back into Pittsburgh territory. He then lost the draw that led to the game-winning goal.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was clear icing,\u201d Kindel said. \u201cI just wish I would have made a better play there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 \u0160ilovs played a spectacular game. If the Penguins had won, it would have been remembered as one of the great goaltending performances in team history, and that\u2019s not hyperbole. He stoned Matvei Michkov on a breakaway. He made a stunning save on Porter Martone in the moments before York\u2019s game-winner.<\/p>\n
\u201cIncredible,\u201d Shea said. \u201cProbably one of our worst starts to a game all series. It was only 0-0 because of Artie. He should be proud of himself. I know the boys in here are proud of him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 It was an inglorious series for Mantha. He\u2019s scored zero goals in 19 postseason games, but he had one look after another in this game. The puck was following him in overtime. He just couldn\u2019t score. On one look, he went to his patented backhand, five-hole move in tight instead of simply ripping the puck. He was also guilty of a couple of horrible turnovers in overtime.<\/p>\n
It was a great season for Mantha, but it was a horrific postseason series.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Kris Letang took a brutal penalty at the end of the second period. He and Travis Konecny were jousting in front of the net, and Konecny\u2019s stick got high. It\u2019s a playoff game. These things happen. Letang responded by sucker punching Konecny in the face. Letang was lucky to get only two minutes of penalty time for that display and luckier still that his team killed it off to begin the third period.<\/p>\n
That was an undisciplined action for anyone in the NHL, let alone a 39-year-old who\u2019s had Letang\u2019s experience. Letang played quite well in the last three games of this series, but that was a forgettable moment.<\/p>\n
\u2022 I thought Malkin was the Penguins\u2019 best player in the first two games of this series in Pittsburgh, and he followed it by scoring the first goal of Game 3. From that point on, he largely disappeared.<\/p>\n
The game looked a bit too fast for him during much of the final three games, and his shot isn\u2019t what it once was. He\u2019ll be 40 in July. It happens. He\u2019s still an effective player who had a terrific regular season, but he really seemed to lose his legs in the last two games of this series.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Crosby was good in Game 6, not great. His playmaking was on display, but he wasn\u2019t able to take it over. I\u2019d suggest his age plays a big role in that.<\/p>\n
Dating back to January, Crosby scored only three goals in his final 24 games of the season. Maybe his health had something to do with that. It\u2019s a troubling number.<\/p>\n
\u2022 The Flyers just don\u2019t give up odd-man rushes. It takes so much discipline to play that way. Give Flyers coach Rick Tocchet credit. He\u2019s really good at his job and has his team buying into what he\u2019s preaching.<\/p>\n
\u2022 The Penguins\u2019 fourth line was sensational, Connor Dewar in particular. Best game I\u2019ve ever seen him play.<\/p>\n
\u2022 So, what comes next?<\/p>\n
Malkin and Letang were two of the few players who slipped out of the locker room before the media entered. Crosby was asked about the future of the Big Three.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt might be a little early for that,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll have a few days to digest everything and evaluate stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
He referred to Letang and Malkin as \u201cfamily.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, it\u2019s something that we\u2019ve probably just gotten used to (playing together), but I think they\u2019re like family,\u201d he said. \u201cI think that\u2019s the best way to describe it. We\u2019ve had some great wins, some tough losses like this. Ultimately, though, that\u2019s a long time that we\u2019ve played together. I\u2019m so appreciative for the opportunity to be able to play with them as long as we have. Hopefully, we can keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n