It was a do or die game for the third straight game for the Pittsburgh Penguins as they had the chance to embark on what only four teams have done in NHL history which was a reverse sweep and force a game seven on Saturday but they weren't able to get the job done and their season has come to an end at the hands of their state rivals in the Flyers.
Game six was full on deja vu for the Penguins as they were in the exact same situation back in 2012 when they were down 3-0 to the Flyers and managed to bring the series to 3-2 going back to Philly. It was a repeat situation as history remained the same in the Penguins loss in overtime yesterday night.
For the Penguins it's once again another first round series loss and remain without a series win since 2018 where they beat the Flyers in round one. We are halfway through the 2020's and there are no series wins in the Penguins arsenal.
For the first time in this series, this was a game the Penguins semi deserved to win and fully tested Dan Vladar enough to score but they couldn't put anything past him as he stood very tall for his Flyers and won them the game.
Penguins Power-Play was a reason for series loss
The power-play is so important to capitalize on in playoff hockey and the Penguins absolutely wasted away every chance they got on the power-play while allowing many shorthanded chances. They played too much permit-er work on the power-play and had zero energy on every one. Pittsburgh went 3-19 on the PP (15.8) percent, they also went 0-7 in games one and two. Philly handed the Penguins chance after chance and they pissed it away. They were ranked seventh in the regular season heading into the playoffs in the PP rankings.
Depth scoring vanished and was non-existent
The one thing that didn't need to happened, happened which was all of the depth scoring the Penguins got throughout the regular season dissipated and totally went away. Penguins leading scorer Anthony Mantha (32 goals) put up just one point in the playoffs and didn't score once which seems to be on his track record every-time he makes the post-season. Tommy Novak disappeared and was very in-effective the entire series while playing top six minutes. Justin Brazeau made just one appearance this series as he was the odd man out for Elmer Soderblom. The fourth line all went quiet on 5v5 but were effective play wise, they didn't really appear in the goal aspect. Having everyone go quiet and ineffective just isn't a good recipe in the playoffs and is unacceptable.
Going behind 3-0 was already a self-inflicted wound that didn't fully heal
The way the Penguins put themselves down 3-0 in the series was such a disappointing and disgusting manner that had everyone in disbelief and shock. They gave into the Flyers defensive and dirty scheme which was to bait the Penguins into retaliating and getting them off there game which worked to a tee and completely made the Penguins an emotional team and stopped playing their own style that made them successful, it took them until game four to finally get themselves back on track and that's a tall task. They got embarrassed on home ice twice which is a story and itself.
Goaltenders stood out in this series
What was predicted to be the Penguins biggest worry was actually there saving grace in this year's playoffs as Stuart Skinner kept those first three games from getting ugly, he did what he could in-front of his team. Arturs Silovs came in for game four and took over the net earning two solid victories in games four and five. He stood on his head in game six and weathered many Flyers storms throughout game, he was quite literally unconscious between the pipes. There could be a debate of keeping Silovs over Skinner based off who won games and performance aspect.
Penguins Player of the Series: Sidney Crosby
Somehow, while playing hurt as can be, Sidney Crosby managed to be the Penguins best player with 1G, 5A, 6P in six games played this series and tried to lead his team into battle. He is the Penguins player of the series, it very well could be the Arty Party but it's gotta go to Sid.
This could be it for the Three Headed Monster
We very well have seen the last game with the trio of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. With the now expiring contract of Evgeni Malkin and the very real possibility of Geno not returning due to the Penguins desire of wanting to get younger, now brings up all the memories for those three men who are close friends. It's gonna be big change this off-season. One of the longest tenured trios in North American Sports who have played with each other for 20 plus years will more than likely come to an end.
There are so many questions marks Penguins fans and with one of the funnest seasons in franchise history now officially come to a close, only thing you can do is look back on the moments this season and now transition into off-season mode.
It was so much fun covering my first season of Pittsburgh Penguins hockey and there will be lots more to come, thank you all for reading and supporting Pens Labyrinth this season and we now look towards the 2026-27 season!
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