Sidney Crosby speaks on the unfamiliar territory surrounding the Pittsburgh Penguins.

PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Penguins are in uncharted waters as they enter the final 20 games of the 2023-24 season. Once a team that was a near lock to make the playoffs every year, the Penguins find themselves on the outside looking in for the second year in a row. This time around, however, things seem way worse off than in 2022-23.

Moneypuck.com gives the Penguins a 5.1% chance of reaching the playoffs with 19 games remaining and eight points out of the wild card.

Some of the Penguins' leaders aren’t used to this sort of situation. Captain Sidney Crosby hasn’t seen a team this far out of a playoff spot since his rookie year. Despite the uncertainty that lies ahead, Crosby is giving his team one simple message: to stick with it.

“We can’t get discouraged, and we can’t look at kind of how far we are,” Crosby said. “We just got to go a day at a time, and from being in different situations, sometimes it can seem daunting, but it doesn’t take much to turn the corner.”

Crosby isn’t coming out and saying the Penguins are gunning for a spot in the playoffs, but they won’t go down without a fight.

“We've got to find a way to get through it here, get a win, and hopefully put a few together,” Crosby said. “It starts with one. We got to get that one and go from there."

The Penguins are riding a three-game losing streak and have lost six of their last seven. They are set to take on the Ottawa Senators, hoping they can work their way back to the win column and put together some quality games.

“It’s the only thing to do is keep working,” Crosby said. “Got to keep fighting through it. We’ll get rewarded eventually here.”

Things seem bleak, but the Penguins aren’t giving up on the season. No matter their position, Crosby and the Penguins will at least give their best effort to finish out a year filled to the brim with disappointment.

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