PITTSBURGH — There is awkward, and then there is the scene in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ dressing room after their hideous 6-1 loss to the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena.
A couple of Penguins employees asked Sidney Crosby to pose with the puck with which he scored his 600th goal, the only bright spot — and a historic one — on an otherwise rotten evening for a proud franchise that is plummeting down the NHL standings.
Add another historic chapter to Sidney’s story 👏 pic.twitter.com/Caqsu78wK3
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) November 24, 2024
Crosby, always the gentleman, stood and posed with the puck. But even he couldn’t crack a smile. The captain simply stared ahead, stone-faced and seemingly in disbelief regarding what has happened to his once-mighty Penguins.
I couldn’t think about anything other than Crosby after this game. Only 21 men in NHL history have scored 600 goals. This was a big deal, and yet, it didn’t really feel like it because of the Penguins’ sinking ship.
They aren’t just bad. They’re hopeless.
“It’s an accomplishment very few people have ever done,” Bryan Rust said in the quiet dressing room. “It shows how great he is, his longevity. For us to play like that after he gets an accomplishment like that? It sucks.”
Crosby finds himself in a peculiar position. At 37, he remains among the game’s greatest players, even if he hasn’t been at his best in the season’s first six weeks. He also decided in September to sign a two-year contract, which kicks in next season, knowing full well that the Penguins’ trajectory wasn’t good. But I suspect he didn’t know things would turn sour this quickly.
What must his mindset be? We’ll probably never know the vivid details because Crosby isn’t one to be critical of teammates and will always approach problems from a positive place. It’s simply his way. Deep down, however, Crosby must be dreading what the next couple of years could bring.
The Penguins have no hope. None whatsoever. They’re bad, and they’re going to finish close to the bottom of the NHL standings. Sure, it’s still early in the campaign, but everyone can see where this team is headed. If you’re Crosby, the ultimate competition junkie, this must be torture on some level. When you think of Crosby, you think of the physical talent, the gentleman off the ice, the wicked backhand shot, the remarkable playmaking and, yes, you think about those 600 goals. More than anything, though, when you think of Crosby, you think of winning. You think of the Stanley Cup. Those playoff masterpieces that earned the Conn Smythe Trophy twice along with his three championships. You think of those two gold medals for Team Canada, and the Golden Goal. You think of the precocious brilliance as a teenager and the dominance that has remained well into his 30s. Crosby is so many things, and more than anything, he’s a winner. One of the ultimate winners in the history of the sport.
But there’s no winning with this team. Not with this blue line, not with this group of forwards, not with this goaltending, not with the clear blockage between the coaching staff’s message and the team’s response. Anthony Beauvillier and Michael Bunting are in the top six. Owen Pickering, all of 20, played in the top four partially because everyone else has been so, so bad.
Crosby signed up for this. He also wanted to keep the band together, so I don’t know if I would suggest he deserves sympathy. Everyone knew this day was coming. I don’t know if anyone knew the Penguins would get this bad, this quickly, with little wiggle room to rapidly improve for a couple of more years because of their salary-cap situation.
It was fitting that Crosby notched No. 600 on home ice. He has recorded so many milestones in Pittsburgh, from his 1,000th game to his 500th goal, his 1,000th point and recently his 1,600th point. In many ways, PPG Paints Arena isn’t just the house that Mario Lemieux built, it’s also the house Crosby built. The Penguins might not even be in Pittsburgh without Crosby and the impact he made as a teenager, turning the Penguins into almost instant rock stars who took the city by storm. It was a glorious time, and it lasted for almost two decades. It was the golden age of Penguins hockey.
Now the Penguins smell like decay, and Crosby couldn’t even muster a smile following a milestone of this importance. He didn’t smile because winning is everything to him, and even his considerable greatness can’t seem to make this team win.
A night that should have been a celebration was somber. The Penguins might not be good, but at least they have the power of nostalgia on their side. Even that knowledge, however, didn’t make Saturday feel any better.
Crosby will have more milestones before he is through, but I would imagine none will feel as bittersweet as this one. He certainly deserves better.
Ten postgame observations
• It’s time for either Kyle Dubas or someone from Fenway Sports Group to speak with the media about this team’s performance, the empty seats, the outrageous ticket and concession prices, and more.
As a member of the media, I don’t make this suggestion from a self-serving standpoint. When ownership and/or the team president speaks to the media, they are speaking directly to the fan base. That’s what needs to happen. The nature of the plan moving forward needs to be stated, as does management’s honest opinion of this team and where it’s headed. The fan base deserves it.
• I asked Mike Sullivan if he was OK with his team’s effort and energy level, and he said those items were not a concern.
Respectfully, I would disagree with the head coach. The Penguins showed a disturbing lack of fight most of the night. In fact, this has been the case all season. Crosby dropped the gloves one night earlier against Winnipeg. He cares. I’m not so sure that everyone in that locker room cares. I see no fight. No pushback. No passion. I see a lot of veterans who are interested in earning a paycheck and not much else. This is a major problem.
• This team is unspeakably bad. The power plays stinks. The penalty kill certainly stunk against Utah, allowing three power-play goals. There’s no depth. Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are slumping, Crosby’s goal not withstanding. The defense’s work on the five-on-five is embarrassing. Alex Nedeljkovic, like Tristan Jarry, has played poorly.
There is no indication of team speed or team toughness. This team is a hockey disaster.
• I have so much respect for Rust. He loves the Penguins organization and takes the losing personally.
When we spoke after the game, the intensity on his face still visible, he told me what he believed needed to be done to get out of this funk.
“What we have to do is, we have to stay together,” Rust said. “When things are going sh—y, it’s easy to point fingers and place blame. We’re going to stay together. We have to. You can’t win in this league if you don’t. We have to fight our way out of this. We have to fight. This sucks. This sucks a lot. It’s not something I’m very used to. I’d like to get this thing going in the right direction. Right now.”
• Nedeljkovic needs to play better, no question. He spoke about the Penguins’ poor play and was right on the money.
“It doesn’t take a lot to play the right way, to play smart, to play with some detail,” Nedeljkovic said. “It doesn’t take talent, doesn’t take skill. You don’t have to be the strongest guy, the smartest guy, the most fit, whatever. All it is, is just an attitude and a mindset. I think we have that at times. We’ve shown it at times this year. I think we just need to put it together more consistently.”
He’s not wrong.
• Ryan Shea and Jack St. Ivany were so good together last season. Sullivan hasn’t gone to them once this season as the third pairing. I don’t understand this. Ryan Graves and Matt Grzelcyk played together on Saturday and were an absolute disaster, as you’d expect. Given how bad the blue line has been, you’d think the Penguins would consider going back to a pairing that has previously worked. Odd.
• The lack of resistance in the defensive zone — especially in front of Nedeljkovic — was painful to watch.
🚨 We LOVE a Gunner goal! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/lk4xobgJoC
— Utah Hockey Club (@utahhockeyclub) November 24, 2024
It was some incredibly soft play.
• Pittsburgh’s own Logan Cooley took a nasty, headfirst tumble into the end boards after being tripped by Grzelcyk. Luckily, he returned to the game. He’s going to be a very, very good NHL player for a long time and he’s a great kid.
• Crosby received three standing ovations after scoring his 600th goal. I assure you he appreciated all of the love. It was a cool moment, to be sure.
• The Penguins are in last place in the Metropolitan Division at 7-12-4, and their minus-34 goal differential is by far the NHL’s worst number.
(Photo of Utah’s Michael Carcone attempting to score on defenseman Kris Letang and goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic: Charles LeClaire / Imagn Images)
