End of an era? Penguins at crossroads after playoff exit

PITTSBURGH (AP) — For the better part of two decades, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang have served as the foundation upon which the Pittsburgh Penguins built three Stanley Cup champions.

For the better part of a year, all three understood the 2021-22 season could be their last ride together.

And for the better part of a month, Crosby did his best to block it out. He can't anymore. Neither can anyone else. Not after a gut-wrenching playoff loss to the New York Rangers, when a 3-1 series lead ended with the Penguins being on the wrong end of the handshake line at raucous Madison Square Garden after the Rangers pulled off one staggering comeback after another.

The last was a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 7 that marked Pittsburgh's fourth straight one-and-done during a time of year Crosby, Malkin and Letang have helped define.

“They're all different," said Crosby, who missed a portion of Game 5 and all of Game 6 after getting hit in the head by New York's Vincent Trouba. “It's kind of hard to go through all of them. I think if we were to group all of them, I'd think this one, I probably feel like we deserved if I was to categorize all of them.”

Crosby is well aware this could have been the last time Malkin and Letang are among those wearing a Penguins sweater. Both are free agents this summer, as is forward Bryan Rust, whose dynamic play helped the Penguins to consecutive Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. All three could be too expensive to keep.

“I think we knew that coming into the playoffs," Crosby said. "But I think you try not to really think about that. You hope that we can make a good run.”

In a way, they did. Pittsburgh led in six of seven games during the series, including two-goal advantages in both Game 5