{"id":557428,"date":"2026-04-21T18:57:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T18:57:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/557428\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T18:57:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T18:57:26","slug":"sidney-crosby-sees-the-glass-half-full-despite-penguins-terrible-start-to-flyers-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/557428\/","title":{"rendered":"Sidney Crosby sees the glass half full despite Penguins’ terrible start to Flyers series"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sidney Crosby<\/a> didn\u2019t beat around the bush in his postgame statement after the Pittsburgh Penguins fell 3\u20130 in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Philadelphia Flyers. Although he acknowledged the Pens have their backs against the wall, he delivered a confident message to his teammates. <\/p>\n

Pittsburgh boasts an experienced lineup\u2014this isn\u2019t its first rodeo in the NHL<\/a> postseason\u2014and Crosby is hanging on to that as a beacon of hope. Although head coach Dan Muse made it clear Crosby and company should be frustrated<\/a> after falling in consecutive home games, the captain himself sees this as an opportunity for the Penguins to prove themselves\u2014once more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve been in some tough spots all year,\u201d Crosby commented, via NHL.com. \u201cWe\u2019ve always responded really well to adversity. It seems like it\u2019s brought out the best in all of us. I think that getting on the road and having a situation like this hopefully brings out the best in us again here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crosby remains scoreless<\/p>\n

Through the first two games of the first-round showdown against the Flyers<\/a>, Crosby has been neutralized by Rick Tocchet and company. Despite registering 7 shots through two outings, the Pens\u2019 captain has yet to score a point and is carrying a -2 plus\/minus in the series. The last time Crosby was held scoreless in consecutive postseason games was during the 2020-21 Stanley Cup<\/a> Playoffs.<\/p>\n

\"Sidney<\/p>\n

Sidney Crosby at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n

Crosby is far from the main culprit behind the Penguins<\/a>\u2018 rough start to the Stanley Cup Playoffs\u2014that could very well be the nail in their coffin\u2014but his team still needs him to step up if Pittsburgh wants to stay alive. Being held scoreless by the Flyers is not like Crosby. <\/p>\n

In his career, he has scored 139 points against the Flyers\u2014the second most against any team, with only the Islanders ranking higher. Moreover, Crosby\u2019s 60 career goals (regular season only) against Philadelphia are his most against a single opponent. In playoff games, Crosby has scored 15 goals against the Flyers.<\/p>\n

When do Crosby and Penguins play again?<\/p>\n

Crosby and the Penguins will hit the road for Games 3 and 4 of the first-round matchup against the Flyers. Pittsburgh\u2019s first visit to Xfinity Mobile Arena will be on April 22, while Game 4 will take place on Saturday, Apr. 25. Thus, the Penguins are in for a long stay in Philly. <\/p>\n

Though dubbed the City of Brotherly Love, it\u2019s clear there is no love for the Flyers\u2019 cross-state neighbors in South Philly. Entering the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, Crosby and the Penguins will quickly be reminded of how deep the rivalry runs.<\/p>\n

Flyers vs Penguins: Playoff history<\/p>\n

The Flyers have a chance to sweep the Pens in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in franchise history. The two franchises have met seven times in the postseason; Philadelphia leads with four series wins to Pittsburgh\u2019s three, but neither has ever swept the other Pennsylvania organization. <\/p>\n

A win in Game 3 could allow the Flyers to put their foot on the Pens\u2019 throat, and it might be all she wrote for Crosby and company. If there\u2019s a silver lining for Crosby and the Pens to hang their hats on, it\u2019s that the Penguins have won their last three playoff games in Philly (2017-18 Stanley Cup Playoffs). If they can keep that trend going, they might save their 2025\u201326 NHL season.<\/p>\n

SurveyHow many games will Penguins-Flyers series last?<\/p>\n

How many games will Penguins-Flyers series last?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sidney Crosby didn\u2019t beat around the bush in his postgame statement after the Pittsburgh Penguins fell 3\u20130 in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5112],"tags":[1468,5,4,1467,56,5205,100,768,14],"class_list":{"0":"post-557428","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-flyers","8":"tag-flyers","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-philadelphia","12":"tag-philadelphia-flyers","13":"tag-philadelphiaflyers","14":"tag-pittsburgh-penguins","15":"tag-sidney-crosby","16":"tag-stanley-cup"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116444230663801154","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557428","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=557428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}