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What Penguins’ Dan Muse said after being eliminated by Flyers in Game 6
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- What Penguins’ Dan Muse said after being eliminated by Flyers in Game 6
What Penguins' Dan Muse said after being eliminated by Flyers in Game 6 appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
Although Dan Muse brought the Pittsburgh Penguins back to the postseason in 2025-26 in his first year as coach, he was unable to steer the club to a first Stanley Cup Playoff series win since 2018.
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The Pens were defeated 1-0 in overtime by the Philadelphia Flyers at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Game 6 of their first-round series on Wednesday night, officially ending their campaign .
"It's tough right now to really look back. I love this group. They were awesome. From start to finish, just going back to training camp, what the outside expectations are were never what the inside expectations were," Muse told reporters after the loss, per NHL.com's Tom Gulitti.
"And all I really cared about was what this group thought and how they believed in themselves, and how when things got hard, they just found a way to dig in and keep pushing."
Despite preseason expectations that painted the Penguins as bottom-feeders this year, the roster vastly exceeded expectations, winning 41 games and finishing second place in the Metropolitan Division.
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But they were unable to use home-ice as an advantage, losing the first two games of the series to Philadelphia at PPG Paints Arena before falling into an 0-3 hole.
They were resilient though, winning two straight games to force a Game 6 in the City of Brotherly Love. And the Pens were oh-so-close to forcing a seventh, throwing 42 shots at Dan Vladar on Wednesday but being unable to beat the Czech netminder, who was dialed in.
The focus now shifts to the futures of Sidney Crosby , Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang , who have played together for over two decades. Malkin doesn't have a contract for 2026-27 as of yet, and this could be the last time we've seen the trio on the same team.
"It's just special," Muse said of getting the opportunity to coach the three. "When they've been doing what they've been doing for this long at such a high level, continuing to be able to elevate their games, especially when things get hard and it's late in the season, and whether it's fighting to clinch a playoff spot, or when your team needs to dig out of a hole during the regular season or in the playoffs, they just continue to elevate and find different levels."
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Although the Penguins exceeded expectations in 2025-26, it was still a hugely disappointing finish — and it could be an era-defining offseason in Pennsylvania.
Related: 2 Penguins most to blame for 1st-round loss to Flyers
