Opinion: 'No Quit' Mentality Shows Why These Penguins Are Different

Going into the 2025-26 season, there were a lot of expectations for the Pittsburgh Penguins. They had missed the playoffs three seasons in a row, they had a lot of youth talent pushing for the NHL roster, and - by many measures, even by the expectations of their own general manager - playoffs were probably going to be a longshot as they prioritized development.

However, as the Penguins sit second in the Metropolitan Division in mid-March, it’s hard to deny at this point that this is, simply, a good hockey team. Whether by design or by accident, general manager and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas set his team up to be a playoff contender, and his players have taken advantage of every opportunity to keep themselves in that conversation. 

But, unfortunately, a pretty big curveball was thrown when captain Sidney Crosby was injured while representing Team Canada at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, and he was originally set to be out of the lineup until late March - near the end of a schedule gauntlet that includes 17 games in 31 days against 15 current playoff teams. Then, with Crosby already out, they were thrown yet another curveball when veteran forward Evgeni Malkin earned himself a five-game suspension for slashing the head of Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin.

With no Crosby and no Malkin, it would have been easy for the Penguins to fall off. To mail it in. To use the excuse of missing their two best players - plus, a few other key injuries - as reason enough for piling losses, should they happen. 

But no such thing happened. Although things haven’t been perfect, Pittsburgh has earned four out of eight possible points since Malkin exited the lineup, and they are 3-3-3 without Crosby - also earning exactly half the available points. It’s not as if the points have come easy, either. 

And there is one thing that separates this Penguins’ team from the team that missed the playoffs three seasons in a row. 

There is no quit in these Pittsburgh Penguins.

We saw it earlier this season against the Columbus Blue Jackets, when they came back from three goals down and won it on a Crosby overtime goal. We saw it Sunday against the Boston Bruins, when they erased another 3-0 deficit to take down the Bs in dramatic fashion courtesy of Egor Chinakhov and Tommy Novak in overtime. We saw it Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes, when the Penguins scored twice with the goaltender pulled to even the score and force extra time, even if they eventually lost again in the shootout. 

The truth is that these Penguins have a backbone. They don't back down. They never stop fighting, tooth and nail, for every single point they can get their hands on. And that has earned praise from Dubas himself, who said this team’s resilience is his favorite thing about the group. 

"I think, especially since we've come back from Christmas, it's not just been the wins, but the way that the team has gone about winning that shows that, when we're at our best, it's a very good team,” Dubas said.

"For me, the greatest thing about the team the whole year has been the way that we've weathered times that haven't been great. The way that the team responds when things don't go well... the team always finds a way to respond, even with guys out of the lineup."

And that fighting spirit speaks to a locker room and organizational culture that has not necessarily been as prevalent in years past. This team refuses to go out quietly, and they refuse to let any of the outside noise or what others are saying dictate how their season is going to go. There’s something special about not just a group mentality like that but also the ability to back it up. 

The fact that the Penguins are still staying afloat and haven’t moved standings-wise without their two best players in the lineup speaks volumes about this team’s resilience and mental fortitude. Unlike in years past, when things don’t go their way, they don’t crumble. They don’t fold. They simply get back up and continue to throw punches.

Players like Erik Karlsson, Chinakhov, Rickard Rakell, and Anthony Mantha have stepped up, and they’re all different players in vastly different situations. Karlsson is a future hall-of-fame defenseman who is having his best all-around season since his days as an Ottawa Senator, and certainly, his best of three seasons in Pittsburgh. Chinakhov is the newest, shiniest toy who has been the Penguins’ best goal-scorer since his team debut on Jan. 1 and has shown flashes as an elite goal-scorer with his devastating wrist shot.

As for Rakell, he’s one of the longer-tenured faces in the room who has established himself as a sniping winger for Crosby and Malkin, and he’s - all of a sudden - been asked to play the biggest role on this team as its first-line center when he hasn’t regularly played center in almost a decade. And Mantha is a 31-year-old winger coming off of ACL surgery who has managed to score some of the biggest,.most clutch goals for the Penguins and is having a career year.

The mix works. These players aren’t just fighting for the playoffs, they’re fighting for each other. And that’s evident with every comeback and every response game and every hard-earned win without their star players. It’s the mark of a team that has differentiated itself in a way that few other teams can.

And that’s why this team just feels different. The air is changing in Pittsburgh this season, and if they can follow through and play hockey into late-spring, this is a team that folks are going to talk about for a very long time.

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