Penguins Still Have Improvements to Make to Complete Comeback Against Flyers – The Hockey Writers – Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2022-23 with home ice advantage in their first-round series against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Penguins looked like they would have the advantage as the older, more experienced team, but it has not played out that way.

They lost the first three games and then showed some life in Games 4 and 5 to stay alive. They now head back to Philadelphia for Game 6, trailing 3-2 in the series and facing another elimination game. What has gone wrong for Pittsburgh in Round 1, and can they rally to win the series in seven games?

Penguins Struggled to Adapt in Games 1, 2 and 3

During the regular season, the Penguins were unable to make timely adjustments during a game when their strategy wasn’t working. That is exactly what happened through the first three games of this series. The Flyers’ defense had its way with Pittsburgh’s offense, controlling the neutral zone and clogging up the shooting lanes. 

In Game 3, Pittsburgh found their footing. In the first period, they maintained control in their zone and created good scoring chances in the offensive zone. They were getting the puck deep and outworking the Flyers.

In the second period, the Penguins started to fall apart after Bryan Rust took a penalty for fighting Travis Konecny. The Flyers scored on their power play, and the momentum shifted in their favor. Pittsburgh went back to dumping passes to the middle of the ice that kept getting picked off, and they stopped getting the puck low. 

These two teams are not fond of each other, and the Flyers successfully got under the Penguins’ skin in Games 1-3. Pittsburgh repeatedly took Philadelphia’s bait and racked up ten penalties for 52 minutes in Game 2 alone. After the Rust penalty box parade and Anthony Mantha’s puck over the glass penalty in Game 3, they were unable to establish any momentum.

That lack of discipline is one of the main reasons they lost the first three games of the series. Philadelphia has to be given credit for sticking to their game plan throughout the series. They have clogged the middle, forced turnovers and reduced the high-danger chances to almost none through three games.

Can the Penguins Win Two More Games?

By the end of Game 3, it seemed almost certain that the Penguins would be swept. They were not making smart decisions with the puck and committing too many turnovers. However, in Games 4 and 5, they finally showed some of that familiar grit they were known for in the regular season.

In the first three games, the Flyers stepped all over Pittsburgh’s offense and made their top scorers a non-factor. In Games 4 and 5, players like Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, Connor Dewar and Mantha got involved and scored goals. 

That alone won’t be enough for them to win the series. The power play is still struggling (it was 0-5 in Game 2). If it were operating at even an average level, the series might not be 3-2. The Penguins have to get their special teams going and clean up their zone exits. If they can do those two things and stop taking so many penalties, they have a real shot of winning the series.

Only four teams in NHL history have come back from a 0-3 deficit to win a Stanley Cup Playoff series. The problem is that the Penguins might care too much. Several of their players are in the twilight of their careers, and they know it. The team was playing with a nervous desperation through the first three games, and now it seems like they have settled in. This was always their series to win or lose, but if they fix up some key areas, they might have two more wins in them.