4 Penguins Who Have Stepped Up Big Without Crosby, Malkin

One look at the Pittsburgh Penguins' schedule in the month of March was enough for a whole lot of people to question whether or not a team that was - according to outside noise - supposed to be a lottery team would be able to sustain playoff-level hockey. 

And right when, not one, but two of the team's biggest stars were guaranteed to miss at least a few games, there were even more questions. The currently injured Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin - who still has two games to serve on his suspension - have been driving the bus for the Penguins for two decades, and they are still the two most productive players on the team.

Well, as it turns out, the Penguins have been doing fine regardless. 

In the three games since they lost both Crosby and Malkin simultaneously, the Penguins are 1-0-2 and have collected four out of six possible points. They're still second in the Metropolitan Division, and they are finding ways to beat good teams, squeak points out of almost every game, and utilize their "never quit" mantra to come roaring back in games, even when they are down.

And, although many of them are playing pretty well without 87 and 71, there have been four players who have stepped up in a big way and stood out among the rest.

Not only is Karlsson playing his best hockey as a Pittsburgh Penguin this season, he's also playing the best all-around hockey since his days as an Ottawa Senator. 

The 35-year-old, three-time Norris Trophy-winning blueliner is in his third season with Pittsburgh, and he has looked the part both offensively and defensively all year. He has six goals and 44 points in 59 games. He's also played a key role on both special teams units for the Penguins, and their power play and penalty kill have both been top-five units in the NHL for the majority of the 2025-26 season despite a recent fall-off by the power play, which is now ranked sixth.

But since the Olympic break - which included heartbreak for Karlsson and Team Sweden - his play has been at another level. 

Karlsson is driving offense at an elite rate, he's produced five points in three games without Crosby and Malkin, he's getting pucks to the net with six shots in two of his last five games, he's logging heavy minutes, and he's made some stellar defensive plays that weren't prevalent in his game much at all prior to this season.

He has not played in the postseason since 2018-19 with the San Jose Sharks. He badly wants to get there this time around, and he's playing like a man carrying his team on his back. 

Karlsson has been the Penguins' best player in these last eight games, and it's not particularly close. 

Chinakhov has simply been magnificent since joining the Penguins, as his 11 goals are more than any other Penguins' player since his debut with the team on Jan. 1.

But he has really turned it up since the break - and, especially, in the three games without Crosby and Malkin. 

In those three games, Chinakhov has a goal and three assists, and - really - he should have four assists, as he wasn't awarded one on Tommy Novak's overtime winner against the Boston Bruins on Sunday but certainly earned one. He hounded one of the league's best defensemen in Charlie McAvoy and forced a turnover, took the puck around the offensive zone and across the net front, stuck with it after a poke check, and got the puck to Novak for the goal. 

And this is just one example. Chinakhov has been playing responsible defensive hockey since he arrived in Pittsburgh, and his smarts and instincts have been on full display on a top line with Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust - a line he has helped elevate.

This guy was well-worth a second- and third-rounder, and as a pending-RFA, he is making his case for a pretty big pay raise this summer, when he and the Penguins wiill surely talk about a new contract. 

Rakell has drawn the ire of some Penguins' fans since the Olympic break for his play at the center position. Having not been a full-time center since 2017 - and with the Penguins stretched thin at center - it took a few games for Rakell to adjust to his role as the team's first-line center without Crosby, a role he probably never imagined he'd play as a Penguin. 

But he's stepped up in a big way since Malkin came out of the lineup in terms of getting some offensive momentum, driving play, and taking draws. He has a goal and four points in the last three games without both of the big guys, and he's making some progress in terms of winning draws, as he's 11 of his last 25. Not great, but not where he started, either. 

Many forget that Rakell missed 21 games earlier this season with a broken hand, and he was flirting with point-per-game before that. He's been asked to shoulder a huge load without Crosby and Malkin, getting matched up down the middle against the opposition's best, running the power play from down low, and being relied upon offensively. 

The Penguins are 1-0-2 and have earned four of six possible points without both Crosby and Malkin. Rakell may not be doing the flashy things like Karlsson and Chinakhov, but he is a vitally important member of their top-six, and the team wouldn't be functioning at the level it still is without him in the picture.

Speaking of top-six players stepping up, Anthony Mantha has certainly done so since both 87 and 71 exited the lineup. 

Mantha tallied the tying goal and the go-ahead goal against the Bruins, and he also scored against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday in the last minute of the first period to tie the game at the time. 

But it's not just the goals in terms of Mantha's contributions, even if he has 24 of them this season - second only to Crosby. He's also made some key defensive plays, most notably in overtime against the Canes, when he blocked a shot to save a goal and later backchecked and dove to break up a 2-on-0 opportunity. And he's still helping the second line drive possession and create chances.

The 31-year-old forward has been nothing short of impressive this entire season, as he's already tied his career-high in points (48) and is just one goal shy of tying his career-high in that department. And this is coming off a 2024-25 season in which he played just 13 games before tearing his ACL.

Mantha has been an integral part of the Penguins' resurgence this season, and he has stepped up in really big moments for the team all season long - but, especially, in these last three games.

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