- Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang will play their first playoff game since May 12, 2022 when the Penguins host the Flyers on Saturday
- The trio has been together for 20 seasons, the longest-tenured group of teammates in North American professional sports
- Read below for full details on how Pittsburgh plans to attack the Battle of Pennsylvania
It took three long years, but the Pittsburgh Penguins are back in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang aren’t taking a second of it for granted.
The Penguins will host the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference First Round series on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena (8 p.m. ET, ESPN). It marks the first playoff meeting between the rivals since 2018, when Pittsburgh eliminated Philly in six games.
Crosby will have gone 1,434 days without a playoff game by the time the puck drops Saturday. The last one came on May 12, 2022, a Game 7 overtime loss to the New York Rangers. After qualifying for the postseason in 16 straight years from 2007 to 2022, the Penguins missed each of the past three.
“This is what you play for, is the opportunity to compete for the Stanley Cup,” Crosby told NHL.com. “After some years not being able to do it, I think you appreciate it even more.”
The three have been Penguins teammates for 20 seasons now, the longest-tenured trio in North American professional sports. Crosby owns 201 points in 180 career playoff games with three Stanley Cup rings. Malkin has 180 points in 177 postseason contests, and Letang has logged 90 points in 149 playoff games.
A big reason Pittsburgh made it back was Erik Karlsson. The 35-year-old defenseman won team MVP honors with 66 points in 75 games after facing trade speculation last offseason. Karlsson spent years on the other side of matchups against Crosby and the Penguins in Ottawa, including a heartbreaking Game 7 double-overtime loss in the 2017 Eastern Conference Final.
“It’s been brutal for me playing against those guys over the course of my career,” Karlsson said. “It’s going to be nice to have them on your side.”
Crosby has owned this rivalry against Philadelphia. He has 60 goals against the Flyers, more than any other opponent, and has piled up 36 points in 23 career playoff games against them. Letang, for his part, called the three-year drought “a shock” before adding the obvious: “We’re here today and we’re excited.”
The Penguins clinched their playoff spot with a 5-2 win over the Devils on April 9. Now the only question is whether Crosby, Malkin, and Letang have one more deep run left in them. Saturday night in Pittsburgh will tell us a lot.
