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Penguins’ Sidney Crosby wants to run it back with Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang
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- Penguins’ Sidney Crosby wants to run it back with Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
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Sidney Crosby , Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang may have played their last game as a trio on Wednesday night, as the Pittsburgh Penguins officially lost the Battle of Pennsylvania to the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 6 of their first-round Eastern Conference series.
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Cam York scored in overtime at Xfinity Mobile Arena, and the Flyers beat the Penguins 1-0 to advance to Round 2 for the first time since 2020.
Thus, it's a wrap on Pittsburgh's 2025-26 season — and although Crosby and Letang are under contract for another year, Malkin will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
It could have been the Last Dance, but Crosby isn't ready to talk about that just yet .
"It might be a little early for that. We'll have a few days to digest everything and evaluate stuff," the captain told reporters when asked about the future of his veteran teammates, per ESPN's Greg Wyshynski.
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"I think they're like family. I think that's the best way to describe it. We've had some great wins, some tough losses like this. Ultimately, though, that's a long time that we've played together. I'm so appreciative for the opportunity to be able to play with them as long as we have. Hopefully we can keep going."
Crosby, Letang and Malkin have played together since 2006, and brought three Stanley Cups to Pittsburgh, in 2009, 2016 and 2017. They're the longest-tenured trio of teammates in North American sports history, surpassing the record held by Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada of the New York Yankees (17 seasons) three years ago, Wyshynski noted.
It's been a magical run, but after three consecutive missed postseasons for the Penguins, hockey fans were starting to wonder if they'd seen the last of the star trio in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Under Dan Muse's tutelage, Pittsburgh returned to the dance after a strong 2025-26 season that saw them finish second in the Metropolitan Division. But they were unable to fully recover after falling into a 3-0 hole against an upstart Philadelphia club.
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The Penguins remain without a series win in eight years, and in a potential era-defining offseason for the franchise, it'll be intriguing to see if Crosby, Letang and Malkin will get an opportunity to run it back one more time.
Related: John Buccigross makes declaration on future of Penguins' 'Big 3'
Related: 2 Penguins most to blame for 1st-round loss to Flyers
