{"id":539361,"date":"2026-04-03T23:42:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T23:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/539361\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T23:42:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T23:42:17","slug":"sidney-crosby-reacts-to-penguins-loss-vs-lightning-as-race-toward-2026-nhl-playoffs-tightens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/539361\/","title":{"rendered":"Sidney Crosby reacts to Penguins loss vs Lightning as race toward 2026 NHL playoffs tightens"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/topic\/pittsburgh-penguins\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"break-word text-(--theme-primary-color) hover:text-(--theme-text-color) hover:bg-(--theme-primary-color) cursor-pointer font-bold border-b-(length:--theme-border-width) border-b-(--theme-border-color)\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> suffered a 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the defeat did little to erase the progress they made earlier in the week. Wins against the Islanders and <a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/topic\/detroit-red-wings\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"break-word text-(--theme-primary-color) hover:text-(--theme-text-color) hover:bg-(--theme-primary-color) cursor-pointer font-bold border-b-(length:--theme-border-width) border-b-(--theme-border-color)\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Red Wings<\/a> gave Pittsburgh valuable breathing room in the playoff race, allowing them to absorb the setback without losing control of their position.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">Even so, the loss exposed defensive issues that could become costly down the stretch. Tampa Bay capitalized on mistakes, and the Penguins struggled to slow down the Lightning\u2019s offensive push, turning what had been a competitive game into a multi-goal defeat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">Despite the result, the Pens remain in a favorable position toward the <a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/topic\/stanley-cup\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"break-word text-(--theme-primary-color) hover:text-(--theme-text-color) hover:bg-(--theme-primary-color) cursor-pointer font-bold border-b-(length:--theme-border-width) border-b-(--theme-border-color)\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Stanley Cup<\/a> playoffs with only a handful of games remaining. The margin they built earlier in the week continues to keep them on track for a postseason berth.<\/p>\n<p>Do the Penguins control their playoff destiny?<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">The Penguins currently sit in second place in the Metropolitan Division with 92 points. They hold a three-point advantage over the Islanders and a four-point cushion over Columbus. With six games remaining and considering their rivals\u2019 schedules, three more wins would likely be enough to clinch a spot in the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/topic\/sidney-crosby\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"break-word text-(--theme-primary-color) hover:text-(--theme-text-color) hover:bg-(--theme-primary-color) cursor-pointer font-bold border-b-(length:--theme-border-width) border-b-(--theme-border-color)\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Sidney Crosby<\/a> acknowledged the issues that surfaced in the loss while crediting Tampa Bay\u2019s performance. \u201cThey\u2019re a good team. We can\u2019t make the mistakes that we made against them. We\u2019ve got to make sure that defensively, we\u2019re stronger. We just have to be better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">Even after the defeat, the Pens remain in control of their own fate. If the Penguins tighten up defensively and take advantage of upcoming matchups, their recent cushion should be enough to carry them into the postseason without needing help from other teams.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/staff\/mfcastro\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mfcastro-52x52.webp.webp\" alt=\"Miguel Angel Fernandez Castro\" width=\"80\" height=\"80\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"rounded-full\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-[10px] hidden min-h-[72px] text-(length:--theme-text-size) leading-[20px] md:block md:min-h-[52px]\" style=\"--theme-text-size:14px\">Miguel Angel Fernandez Castro is a seasoned sports writer and analyst at Bolavip US, with a specialization in NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, College Football, Soccer, Tennis, and Golf. With over 15 years of experience in the field, he has served as a broadcaster, commentator, and reporter for Grupo ACIR Radio in Mexico. During his career, Miguel has covered major global events such as the FIFA World Cup, Super Bowl, FIFA Confederations Cup, World Baseball Classic, Pan American Games, PGA Tour, and ATP Tour. His extensive experience and expertise make him an integral part of the Bolavip US team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Penguins suffered a 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the defeat did little to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539362,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5113],"tags":[5,4,118,1469,100,5216,768],"class_list":{"0":"post-539361","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-penguins","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-nhl","10":"tag-penguins","11":"tag-pittsburgh","12":"tag-pittsburgh-penguins","13":"tag-pittsburghpenguins","14":"tag-sidney-crosby"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116343430459486140","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}