The Best Penguins Teams to Not Win a Stanley Cup

The Pittsburgh Penguins began their 16th straight Stanley Cup Playoff run in the Sidney Crosby-era. In their previous 15 appearances, the Penguins have won three Stanley Cups. That being said, the best team does not always win the Cup. 

So, here's the five best Penguins teams of the Crosby Era that could not win the Stanley Cup.

5. 2010-11 (Lost in 7 to Lightning in 1st Round)

The 2010-11 Penguins are one of the biggest what-ifs for the Crosby and Evgeni Malkin era. 

Playing in their brand new arena for the first time, the Penguins got off to a slow start but hit their stride midway through November. The Pens then went 18-3-2 throughout the remainder of November and the entire month of December, leading into a Winter Classic showdown with the Washington Capitals. In that game, Crosby was hit in the head by Capitals forward David Steckel which caused an injury that would be further injured a few games later. 

Crosby was out for the season, but Malkin had also been dealing with a nagging knee injury throughout the season. In February, Malkin tore his ACL and MCL, leaving the Penguins without either of their stars for the final 34 games of the season.

Despite missing their all-world centers, the Penguins went 15-10-4 to finish the season, including an 8-2-0 record down the final stretch to finish 4th in the Eastern Conference. 

The Penguins jumped out to a 3-1 series lead on the Lightning with two road wins in Tampa, including a double-overtime goal by James Neal in Game 4. Tampa responded in Game 5 with a dominant 8-2 win, allowing only four goals in the following three games to close out the series.

4. 2017-18 (Lost in 6 to Capitals in 2nd Round)

The year is 2018 and the Penguins are back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions. The roster has remained relatively intact except for the departure of Center Nick Bonino and star Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. Everything’s okay though, because the Penguins acquired Derrick Brassard in a three-team trade at the NHL Deadline…. Woof. 

Nonetheless, Phil Kessel scored a career-high 92 points, and the Penguins had a healthy Matt Murray at the beginning of the playoffs for the first time in his career.

After a relatively uneventful regular season, the Penguins headed into their quest for a three-peat as the second seed in the Metropolitan Division. They proved their dominance over rival Philadelphia with a 4-2 series win that saw Crosby and Jake Guentzel each score 13 points, including a hat trick from each in the first and last games of the series. 

They carried that momentum into a Game 1 victory over the Washington Capitals. From that point on the Penguins looked gassed and were skated out of the playoffs by losing four of the next five games and ending a two-year run.

3. 2020-21 (Lost in 6 to Islanders in 1st Round)

Last season the Penguins were a sneaky great team after being written off before the season in favor of teams like the Flyers and the New York Rangers. Despite missing Crosby and Malkin (again) for extended periods throughout the season, the Pens finished 37-16-3 and won an East Division that was considered the toughest in the NHL. Not only that, but they acquired veteran center Jeff Carter who went on to score nine goals in 14 games to finish the regular season.

Even after dropping Game 1 to the Islanders in overtime, the Penguins seemed to pick up their game, winning the next two to grab their first series lead since 2018. 

The Pens were outplayed in Game 4 but dominated in both games five and six. They controlled 64% of the expected goal share, and 63% of the scoring chances in those two games. Unfortunately, Tristan Jarry couldn't catch any footing in the net, finishing the series with a .888 save percentage, and forcing an egregious turnover in double overtime of Game 5 that may have sealed the series for the Islanders. 

Last year’s Penguins would’ve made some noise if they had received average goaltending from Jarry.

2. 2007-08 (Lost in 6 to Red Wings in Stanley Cup Finals)

Of all the teams on this list, the 2007-08 Penguins run was the most surprising. They were not a write-off, but the Pens surprised many pundits with their maturity and playoff acumen in just year three of Crosby’s career. 

Crosby suffered the first serious injury of his career with a high-ankle sprain that kept him out of service for 29 games that season. Evgeni Malkin, coming off of a Calder Trophy rookie season, led the way for the Penguins in Crosby’s absence by scoring 36 points in 21 games. Role players like Ryan Malone and Petr Sykora helped out by finishing the season with 27 and 28 goals.

General Manager Ray Shero rewarded the team for their play by acquiring Marian Hossa from the Atlanta Thrashers. Hossa got off to a slow start with the team but became an integral piece in the postseason. 

The Penguins cruised through the Eastern Conference, losing only two games in three series. Fleury put up one of the best postseason performances of his Hall of Fame career, finishing 14-6 with a .933 save percentage, and allowing under two goals per game (1.97). 

The Penguins ran into a powerhouse Red Wings team that featured three Hall of Famers, with four others potentially joining in the future, and were outclassed early on. The Pens took Games 3 and 5 but lost by just one goal in Game 6 despite a last-second effort by Hossa that danced across the goal line.

1. 2012-13 (Lost in 4 to Bruins in Eastern Conference Finals)

The lockout-shortened season is widely considered the best regular season of the Crosby era. Not only did the team finish with the best record in the Eastern Conference (36-12-0), but they added Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla and Brendan Morrow at the trade deadline.That team went undefeated in March (15-0-0) and finished the season on a 23-4-0 run. 

The Powerplay was automatic with Jarome Iginla finding a home on the far side point where he would bomb one-timers through Chris Kunitz screens.

In the playoffs, the Penguins benched starter Marc-Andre Fleury in favor of Thomas Vokoun after four games. Vokoun led the high-flying Penguins to an Eastern Conference Finals matchup with the Boston Bruins. However, the offense disappeared as they were shut down by Bruins Goaltender Tuukka Rask, only scoring two goals in four games. 

David Krejci led the way for the Bruins as they swept the surprisingly outmatched Penguins. 

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